University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


IndianUlankets 

and  Their  Makers 


GEORGE  WHARTON  JAMES 

Author  of  ttIndianBasketry  "What  the  White  Race  May  Learn 
from  the  Indian;  "The  Indians  of  the  Painted  Desert  Regiorvetc 


With  Numerous  Illustrations  and 


Colored  Plates 


Chicago 

A.  C.McClurg  &  Co 
1914k 


REPLACING 


Copyright  1914 
By  EDITH  E.  FARNSWORTH 

Published  September,  1914 


W.  f.  HALL  PRINTING  COMPANY,  CHICAGO 


INTRODUCTION 

art  development  of  the  human  race  is  a  fascinating  study,  and 
one  that  has  long  engaged  the  attention  of  some  of  our  most  pro- 
found philosophers.  Whence  springs  the  love  of  beauty,  and  the  desire 
for  its  reproduction  or  imitation  in  the  work  of  human  hands?  The 
answer  seems  obvious,  whether  it  is  regarded  from  a  standpoint  interior 
or  exterior  to  man.  If  interior,  man  is  a  spiritual  being  with  power  to  dis- 
cern all  beauty,  and  Nature,  with  her  multiform  manifestations  of  beauty, 
is  but  the  complement  of  that  spiritual  nature,  given  to  him  to  afford 
exercise  for  the  faculties  of  his  soul.  On  the  other  hand  if  the  subject 
is  regarded  as  exterior  to  man  then  the  beauty  of  Nature  must  be  regarded 
as  the  exterior  objects  that  develop  within  him  a  love  for  the  beautiful. 
Once  a  sunrise,  a  sunset,  a  flower,  strikes  man's  inner  vision  and  awakens 
a  love  for  its  rare  appearance,  he  experiences  the  dawn  of  the  art  instinct, 
and  its  development  is  merely  a  question  of  time. 

The  instinct  once  aroused  and  development  begun  it  becomes  as 
natural  to  seek  to  imitate  as  it  is  to  observe.  The  power  of  the  artist 
transfixes  the  beauty  of  the  moment  and  makes  it  a  permanent  joy.  He 
"carries  over"  the  glory  of  today  into  all  the  tomorrows.  But  it  is 
essential  that  the  artist  be  a  good  and  faithful  worshiper  at  the  shrine 
of  Nature.  Morning,  noon,  evening,  and  through  the  silent  watches  of 
the  night  he  must  reverently  remain  at  his  post. 

The  aboriginal  man  was  perforce  a  keen  observer  of  Nature.  He 
could  be  no  other.  Upon  his  observing  powers  his  very  existence  depended. 
As  I  once  elsewhere  wrote: 

In  the  days  of  his  dawning  intelligence,  living  in  free  and  unrestrained  contact 
with  Nature,  his  perceptive  faculties  were  aroused  and  highly  developed  by  the  very 
struggle  for  existence.  He  was  compelled  to  watch  the  animals,  in  order  that  he 
might  avoid  those  that  were  dangerous  and  catch  those  that  were  good  for  food;  to 
follow  the  flying  birds  that  he  might  know  when  and  where  to  trap  them ;  the  fishes 
as  they  spawned  and  hatched ;  the  insects  as  they  bored  and  burrowed ;  the  plants  and 
trees  as  they  grew  and  budded,  blossomed  and  seeded.  He  became  familiar,  not 
only  with  such  simple  things  as  the  movements  of  the  polar  constellations  and  the 
retrograde  and  forward  motions  of  the  planets,  but  also  with  the  less  known  spiral 
movements  of  the  whirlwind  as  they  took  up  the  sand  of  the  desert ;  and  the  zigzags 
of  the  lightning  were  burned  into  his  consciousness  and  memory  in  the  fierce  storms 
that,  again  and  again,  in  darkest  night,  swept  over  the  exposed  area  in  which  he 
roamed.  With  the  flying  of  the  birds,  the  graceful  movements  of  the  snakes,  the 
peculiar  wrigglings  of  the  insects,  the  tracks  of  insects,  reptiles,  birds,  and  animals, 
whether  upon  the  sand,  the  snow,  the  mud,  or  more  solid  earth  he  soon  became 

v 


M89300 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

familiar.  The  rise  and  fall  of  the  mountains  and  valleys,  the  soaring  spires  and  wide 
spreading  branches  of  the  trees,  the  shadows  they  cast,  and  the  changes  they  underwent 
as  the  seasons  progressed ;  the  scudding  or  anchored  clouds  in  their  infinitude  of  form 
and  color,  the  graceful  arch  of  the  rainbow,  the  peculiar  formation  and  dissipation 
of  the  fogs,  the  triumphant  lancings  of  the  night  by  the  gorgeous  fire  weapons  of  the 
morning  sun,  the  stately  retreat  of  the  Day  King  as  each  day  came  to  its  close,  all  these 
and  a  thousand  and  one  other  things  in  Nature  he  soon  learned  to  know  in  his  simple 
and  primitive  manner,  and,  when  the  imitative  faculty  was  once  aroused,  and  the  art 
faculty  demanded  expression,  what  more  natural  than  that  he  should  attempt,  crudely 
at  first,  more  perfectly  later  on,  the  reproduction  of  that  which  he  was  constantly 
observing,  and  which  was  forcefully  impressed  upon  his  plastic  mind.* 

Here  then,  we  have  the  origin  of  the  art  motifs  of  the  aborigines. 
The  North  American  Indians— -the  Amerinds,  as  Major  J.  W.  Powell 
called  them  —  became  experts  in  several  arts  and  crafts,  chief  of  which 
were  those  of  pottery,  basketry,  and  blanket  weaving.  This  book  deals 
entirely  with  the  latter. 

While  several  tribes  have  engaged  in  rude  and  primitive  weaving, 
the  Pueblo  Indians  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  weaving  their  cotton  gar- 
ments exquisitely  and  artistically  long  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards 
in  1540,  it  was  left  for  the  Navaho  of  our  historic  time  to  develop  the 
art  to  a  high  degree,  so  that  we  find  writers  of  note,  and  authorities,  declar- 
ing that  his  is  the  best  blanket  in  the  world  —  neither  Ottoman  fingers 
nor  British  machines  have  ever  produced  its  peer. 

The  Franciscan  Fathers  of  St.  Michaels,  Arizona,  than  whom  no  one 
has  studied  the  Navaho  more,  assert  that  the  modern  Navaho  blanket  is 
not  one  whit  behind  its  predecessors  of  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.  They 
say,  in  addition:  "The  Navaho  blanket  is  today  the  only  thing  of  its 
kind  in  the  world.  No  other  people,  white,  red,  black,  brown,  or  yellow, 
turn  out  a  textile  fabric  that  can  be  placed  beside  it.  It  is  true,  Oriental 
rugs  are  woven  in  much  richer  patterns  than  the  Navaho  blanket,  but, 
whik  the  former  bewilder  the  eye  by  their  over-rich  and  over-crowded 
designs,  the  latter,  by  their  very  barbaric  simplicity  of  design  and  well 
chosen  colors,  please  and  rest  the  eye  at  the  same  time." 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  Navaho  blanket-weaving  is  not  "  a  lost  art," 
nor  are  the  weavers  a  vanishing  race.  In  these  pages  I  shall  show,  and 
with  a  thousand  blankets  selected  from  those  made  this  year  it  can  be 
demonstrated,  that  as  good  blankets  are  being  woven  today  by  the  Navahos 
as^  were  ever  fashioned  in  their  history,  and  the  fact  that  there  are  over 
thirty  thousand  of  these  Indians  on  their  reservation  in  this  year  of  grace 
1914,  where  twenty  years  ago  there  were  less  than  twenty  thousand,  is 
proof  that  they  are  not  decreasing. 

Yet  the  Indian  —  the  Navaho,  as  well  as  all  others  —  as  an  Indian 
is  rapidly  disappearing  from  the  land.     He  is  slowly  changing;  not  into  a 
civilized  being  comparable  with  ourselves,  but  into  a  peculiar  nondescript, 
*  Indian  Basketry,  Chap.  XII,  p.  198. 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

in  whose  life  aboriginal  superstitions  linger  side  by  side  with  white  men's 
follies,  vices,  habits,  customs,  and  conventional  ideas.  Hence  it  is  well  to 
gather  together  all  that  we  possibly  can  of  his  aboriginal  modes  of 
thought  and  life,  his  social  and  tribal  customs,  religious  ceremonies, 
dances,  and  legends  ere  it  is  too  late.  In  the  doing  of  this  the  thoughtful 
mind  soon  discovers  how  large  a  debt  we  owe  to  the  aborigine,  and  how 
far  along  the  path  of  civilization  his  inventive  genius  and  indefatigable 
industry  thrust  us.  For  we  learn,  not  that  uwe"  taught  the  Indian  how 
to  weave,  but  that  "he"  taught  "us." 

In  the  far-away  dim  ages  of  the  past  when  the  aboriginal  man- was 
seeking  for  some  means  of  carrying  in  one  receptacle  the  several  articles 
of  his  hunting-craft  —  such  as  flint  arrow-points,  lance-heads,  skinning 
knives,  gut  for  his  bow,  sinew  for  his  arrows,  his  fetich  to  make  his  hunt- 
ing sure  —  and  his  wife  desired  a  similar  "hold-all"  for  her  treasures, 
the  basket  was  a  necessity.  The  bird's  nest,  possibly,  was  the  first  sug- 
gestion of  the  basket,  and  bark,  twigs,  flexible  roots,  and  fibre  of  shrubs 
and  plants  were  woven  together  in  rude  imitation  of  the  nest,  and  the  art 
of  basketry  was  born.  Once  created,  imitation,  experience,  and  rivalry  soon 
developed  the  art  until  the  Amerind  became  the  greatest  exponent  of 
basket-making  the  world  has  ever  known.  Indeed,  experts  assert  that 
there  is  not  a  known  stitch  now  produced  by  the  deft  fingers  of  Parisian, 
London,  Berlin,  or  Italian  fingers,  or  warp  and  weft,  no  matter  how  cun- 
ning, sent  forth  to  delight  the  eye  from  the  most  complicated  weaving- 
machine  of  modern  time  that  cannot  be  duplicated  in  the  fragments  of 
baskets,  matting,  and  cloth  exhumed  from  graves  that  were  centuries  old 
in  this  American  land  long  before  Columbus  sailed  from  the  harbor 
of  Palos. 

Is  it  not  somewhat  humbling  to  our  haughty  pride  to  know  that  these 
"savage,  dirty,  loathsome,  filthy,  disgusting"  people  —  with  a  score  other 
rude  epithets  which  I  have  heard  applied  to  them  —  gave  us  the  weaving 
art  in  such  high  perfection,  and  that  we  are  indebted  to  them  for  all  the 
useful,  beautiful,  and  luxurious  products  of  our  modern  looms? 

Prior  to  1892  the  modern  Navaho  blanket  was  almost  unknown.  As 
I  shall  show  in  the  chapter  on  the  early  history  of  the  blanket,  there  were 
rare,  fine,  and  wonderful  blankets  made  early  in  the  last  century  that  today 
are  the  envy  and  desire  of  the  collector,  but  it  was  not  until  after  1892 
that  the  blanket  began  to  be  made  on  a  large  scale  as  a  commercial  article. 
Then  came  a  rapid  deterioration  of  the  art  that  was  as  unnecessary  as 
it  was  lamentable  and  regrettable,  for  it  gave  crude,  thick,  coarse,  degraded 
specimens  of  blanketry  to  the  world  and  thus  worked  the  art  long-time 
detriment  and  injury.  But,  like  many  another  evil,  it  grew  to  such  pro- 
portions that  it  became  its  own  slayer.  Out  of  the  mere  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  the  Indian  trader  sprang  into  the  breach  he  himself  had 
made  and  refused  to  buy  the  inferior  specimens  of  the  loom,  for,  as  no 
one  would  buy  them,  they  remained  as  dead  and  unprofitable  stock  on 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

his  shelves.  The  result  is  that,  today,  as  fine  blankets  are  being  woven 
as  were  ever  produced  in  the  palmiest  days  of  the  art,  and  among  the 
nearly  million  dollars'  worth  of  blankets  the  United  States  Government 
officials  report  as  the  product  of  the  Navaho  looms  in  1913,  there  are 
scores,  nay  hundreds,  and  perhaps  thousands,  that  would  be  the  pride 
of  any  trained  and  expert  collector,  or  grace  the  hall,  den,  library,  or  bed- 
room of  the  most  fastidious,  exacting,  and  artistic  housewife  in  the  land. 

During  the  past  twenty  years  interest  in  the  life  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can aborigine  has  so  increased  that  everything  connected  with  him  has 
taken  on  an  added  value.  The  collecting  of  Indian  "  curios  "  has  passed 
through  all  the  successive  stages  of  the  popular  "  fad,"  and  blankets, 
baskets,  bead-work,  pipes,  drums,  head-dresses,  and  many  etceteras  have 
each  taken  a  more  or  less  exalted  place  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  in 
the  public  estimation.  But  to  a  comparatively  limited  few,  who,  how- 
ever, are  slowly  but  surely  growing  in  number,  there  has  come  a  true  appre- 
ciation of  the  marvelous  work  of  certain  Indians  along  the  lines  of  textile 
and  basket  weaving.  Upon  the  latter  subject  I  prepared  a  popular  work 
some  years  ago,*  (now  in  its  sixth  edition),  which  is  largely  used  by 
those  seeking  further  information  in  this  fascinating  branch  of  aborig- 
inal industry.  In  the  pages  that  follow  I  have  endeavored  to  do  for  the 
art  of  blanket-weaving  what  that  book  sought  to  do  for  the  art  of  basket- 
making.  If  thereby  I  shall  bring  to  a  larger  circle  of  American  and  other 
students  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Indian  who  weaves  the  blanket 
and  a  deeper  sympathy  with  him  in  his  life  problems,  I  shall  feel  that  my 
endeavors  have  been  eminently  successful. 

It  will  be  observed  that  I  follow  the  Americanized  and  rational  form 
of  spelling  the  name  Navaho.  Why  people  should  consent  to  use  the  mis- 
leading and  unnecessary  Spanish  form  of  the  name,  Navajo,  is  beyond  me. 
Every  stranger  to  the  Spanish  tongue  —  and  there  are  millions  who  are 
thus  strange  —  naturally  pronounces  this  Na-va-joe,  and  cannot  be  blamed. 
Yet  it  does  give  the  One-who-knows  the  opportunity  to  laugh  at  him,  and 
perhaps  this  is  the  reason  the  Spanish  form  is  retained.  Were  the  name 
one  of  Spanish  origin  we  might  be  reconciled  to  that  form  of  spelling, 
but  as  it  is  a  name  belonging  to  a  tribe  of  Amerinds  who  were  found  here, 
and  had  been  here  for  centuries  when  the  Spaniards  came,  there  is  no 
reason  whatever  why  they  should  have  fixed  upon  them  forever  a  European 
method  of  spelling  their  name. 

For  upwards  of  thirty  years  I  have  known  the  Navaho  Indian.  I 
wrote  and  published  for  the  first  Indian  trader  who  made  a  specialty  of 
the  Navaho  blanket  the  first  blanket  catalogue  ever  issued.  I  have  care- 
fully watched  the  various  developments  of  the  art,  have  bought  many 
hundreds  of  blankets,  know  personally  scores  of  the  best  weavers  of  the 
tribe,  and  as  late  as  the  winter  of  1912-13  spent  over  three  months  visiting 

*  Indian  Basketry. 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

them,  watching  them  work,  engaging  in  their  ceremonies,  sleeping  in  their 
hogans,  eating  their  food,  riding  their  ponies,  and  listening  to  their  legends, 
and  the  following  pages  are  the  result  of  this  long-continued  study  and 
personal  association.  To  understand  the  blanket  aright  and  fully,  the 
student  must  understand  the  Indian;  hence  my  introduction  in  the  Ap- 
pendix of  much  that  to  the  superficial  may  seem  unnecessary  and  ex- 
traneous matter.  To  the  "knowing,"  however,  I  am  assured  that  every 
line  will  justify  its  presence,  and  it  is  for  these  that  I  find  the  joy  of 
writing. 

In  this,  as  in  all  my  other  books,  I  have  cared  less  about  being  thought 
an  original  writer  than  of  giving  all  possible  information  about  the  sub- 
ject presented.  Hence  I  have  gleaned  from  every  known  and  available 
source.  As  a  rule  these  sources  are  stated,  but  if  in  any  place  I  have 
failed  to  give  the  fullest  possible  credit  it  has  been  through  inadvertence, 
and  I  hereby  extend  my  apologies  and  acknowledgements  and  freely  and 
fully  express  my  obligations. 

Pasadena,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 

I.     WHERE  NAVAHO  BLANKETS  ARE  MADE.    NAVAHO  HOUSES  AND  THEIR  SONGS 

of  BLESSING  .    .    .  V 

II.     THE  BIRTH  AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET- WEAVING    ...  8 

III.  THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  NAVAHO  BLANKET 20 

IV.  THE  BAYETA  BLANKET  OF  THE  NAVAHO 2$ 

V.     OLD  STYLE  NATIVE  WOOL  BLANKETS 37 

VI.     NAVAHO  AND  PUEBLO  SQUAW  DRESSES 3p 

VII.     THE  SONG  OF  BLESSING  OF  THE  BLANKET 4S 

VIII.     THE  TEMPORARY  DETERIORATION  OF  THE  ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET  WEAVING  46 

IX.     IMPROVING  THE  ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET  WEAVING 5I 

X.     THE  SIGNIFICANCE  AND  SYMBOLISM  OF  COLOR  IN  THE  NAVAHO  BLANKET    .    .  60 

XI.     DYEING  WITH  NATIVE  AND  ANILINE  DYES 55 

XII.     THE  ORIGIN  AND  SYMBOLISM  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS 72 

XIII.  A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK 103 

XIV.  THE  DESIGNS  ON  MODERN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS 120 

XV.     NAVAHO  AND  PUEBLO  BELTS,  GARTERS,  AND  HAIR  BANDS 130 

XVI.     THE    OUTLINE    BLANKET 136 

XVII.     KACHINA  OR  YEI  BLANKETS 139 

XVIII.     THE  CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS 143 

XIX.     IMITATION  NAVAHO  BLANKETS 159 

XX.     PUEBLO  INDIAN  WEAVERS 164 

XXI.     THE  CHIMAYO   BLANKET 167 

XXII.     CLEANING  THE  NAVAHO  BLANKET 174 

APPENDIX 

I.     THE   NAVAHO   INDIAN 175 

II.     THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO 184 

III.  NAVAHO  LAND 196 

IV.  RELIABLE  DEALERS  IN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS 202 

INDEX 2" 

xi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

A  Navaho  weaver ,     .    Frontispiece 

Summer  hogan 

Winter  hogan 2 

Mohave  Indian  wearing  rabbit-skin  blanket 4 

Rare  old  bayeta  blanket g 

Hopi  ceremonial  blanket g 

Bayeta  "  chief's  "  blanket IO 

Bayeta  "  chiefs  "  blanket I2 

Fine  "chief's"  blanket  of  bayeta I4 

Rare  type  old  bayeta  double  saddle  blanket 16 

Typical  Navaho  squaw  dress  of  the  oldest  style 18 

Old  bayeta  saddle  blanket 20 

Rare  old  bayeta 22 

Rare   old  bayeta 23 

Portion  of  center  panel  of  rare  old  bayeta 24 

Fine  bayeta 25 

An  exquisite  bayeta 26 

A  blanket  about  which  experts  differ 28 

A  flannel  blanket 30 

The  "  playing  card "  blanket 31 

Bayeta  blanket 32 

Red  flannel  blanket 32 

Old  style  native  blanket 34 

Old  style  native  wool  blanket 35 

Double  saddle  blanket  of  soft  weave 36 

Good  specimen  of  old  style  native  blanket 38 

Beautiful  soft  piece  of  weaving 40 

Another   soft-weave  blanket 42 

An  excellent  traveling  blanket 43 

Modern  Navaho  squaw  dress 44 

Unique  Zuni  squaw  dress 46 

Zuni  squaw  dress 4& 

Pueblo-made  squaw  dress 50 

xiii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Acoma  squaw  dress 52 

Rare  Hopi  ceremonial  squaw  dress 53 

Man-woven  Hopi  squaw  dress 54 

Hopi  squaw  dress 55 

A  Navaho  weave  of  Germantown  yarn 56 

Rare  old  Moki  pattern 58 

Modern  native  wool  Navaho     i     i 60 

Dry-painting,  Place  and  Vision  of  the  Whirling  Logs 76 

Navaho  weaver  at  her  open-air  loom 102 

Ordinary  Navaho  blanket  loom 104 

Diagram  showing  formation  of  warp 105 

Navaho  weaver  at  work 106 

Batten  stick  in  position .     .  106 

Novel  arrangement  of  the  loom 106 

Navaho  method  of  using  distaff 108 

Navaho  blanket  of  the  finest  quality 109 

Arrangement  of  threads  of  warp 109 

Weaving  of   saddle  girth 109 

Manipulation  of  the  healds no 

Arrangement  of  healds no 

Blanket,  part  diagonal  and  part  diamond  weave no 

Two  sides  of  a  Navaho  blanket in 

Manuelito's  widow 112 

Navaho  shirt  of  early  weave 112 

Elle,  of  Ganado,  Ariz.,  one  of  the  best  of  living  weavers 114 

Tuli  the  child  weaver 114 

Lightning  design  blanket 115 

Lightning  design  blanket 115 

Lightning  design  blanket 116 

Navaho  blanket  of  symbolic  design 118 

Diagram  showing  formation  of  warp  of  sash 130 

Section  of  Navaho  belt 131 

Wooden  heald  of  the  Zunis 132 

Girl  weaving    (Aztec) 132 

Navaho  belt  weaver  at  work 134 

Fine  Germantown  blanket 136 

Fine  Germantown  blanket 136 

Outline  blanket 138 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

/ 

PAGE 

Fine  modern  blanket ^  I40 

Representative  outline  blanket   -. .141 

Single  saddle  blanket  ....    -.-' .141 

Hopi  basket  showing  figure  of  Kachina 142 

Blanket  with  Yei  design .     . j^ 

Yei  blanket I46 

Yei  blanket  from  a  painting 148 

Blanket  with  sacred  symbols 150 

Deviation  from  one-color  blanket 152 

Blanket  showing  key  design 152 

Blanket  with  large  design 153 

Navaho  weaver  showing  "  bungling  "  in  weave  .    - 154 

Common  blanket,  simple  design •.    -.    • 155 

Common  blanket  with   irregular  banding     . 155 

Closely-woven   blanket      . 156 

Good  for  rough  use 156 

Double  saddle  blanket 157 

Standard  blanket 157 

Standard  blanket  of  fine  quality 158 

Standard  blanket 158 

Blanket  made  by  Manuelito's  widow • 159 

Standard  blanket 160 

"  Extra  "  blanket  of  good  design 162 

Standard  blanket <• 164 

Standard  quality  blanket 166 

Standard  blanket,  saddle  size l&7 

Standard  blanket -    • l67 

Native  wool  blanket l68 

Extra  quality  native  wool  blanket *® 

Extra  quality  native  wool  blanket l69 

Extra  quality  native  wool  blanket l69 

Extra  quality  native  wool  blanket X7° 

Native  wool  blanket I72 

"Extra"  Blanket I74 

"  Extra  "  native  wool  undyed  blanket        J76 

Individualistic  design    .    • l 

Individualistic  design l 

Simple  and  pleasing  design • 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Unique  design  in  "extra"  quality 184 

Daring  design  of  naturalistic  figures 186 

Flood  of  red  in  outer  body 188 

Native  wool  fancy  blanket 190 

Fancy  blanket 190 

Native  wool  fancy  blanket 191 

Fancy  saddle  blanket 191 

Old  native  wool  dyed  blanket 192 

Germantown  yarn  saddle  blanket 193 

Germantown  yarn  saddle  blanket 193 

Hopi  weaver  at  Sichomovi 194 

Hopi  weaver  at  Oraibi 194 

Hopi  ceremonial  sash 195 

Hopi  weaving  ceremonial  sash 195 

Hopi  priests  wearing  ceremonial  sashes 195 

Old  Chimayo  or  Mexican  blanket 196 

Rare  old  Chimayo  blanket 197 

Handsome  Chimayo  blanket 198 

Old  Chimayo  blanket 200 

Rare  old  Chimayo  blanket 201 

Navaho  woman  cleaning  blanket .  202 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


CHAPTER  I 

vA: 

Where  Navaho  Blankets  Are  Made 
Navaho  Houses  and  Their  Songs  of  Blessing 

of  the  great  surprises  to  him  who  travels  over  the  Navaho  reser- 
vation for  the  first  time  is  that  he  never  sees  villages,  towns,  settle- 
ments, or  groups  of  houses  of  the  Navahos.  Indeed,  he  may  wander  for 
months  and  seldom  see  a  hogan  unless  he  watches  trails  carefully  and  fol- 
lows those  that  seem  to  be  traveled.  The  Navaho  is  not  a  gregarious 
animal  in  his  home  life.  He  wants  his  own  about  him  and  no  more. 
Association  with  his  fellows  he  obtains  at  the  trading-store,  or  at  the 
many  ceremonial  chantings,  dancings,  or  prayers  that  his  "singing, 
prayer,  and  medicine  men  "  provide  for  him. 

Following  one  of  these  trails  the  visitor  may  be  led  into  a  small 
arroyo  —  or  dry  stream,  and  there  close  to  the  wall,  perhaps,  is  the  sum- 
mer hogan.  It  may  be  in  the  woods,  or  in  the  shelter  of  some  rocks,  but 
seldom  in  the  open. 

The  older  Navahos  tell  us  that  in  the  "far-away  days  of  the  old" 
they  used  to  live  in  mere  dugouts,  with  a  rude  covering  of  a  grass  and 
yucca  mat  secured  with  yucca  cords.  This  was  entered  by  means  of  a 
ladder  which  was  drawn  in  after  use.  When  a  change  of  domicile  was 
desired  both  yucca  mat-roof  and  ladder  were  made  into  a  roll  and  carried 
to  the  new  location. 

But  as  conditions  improved,  the  type  of  dwelling  correspondingly 
improved  until  the  present  forms  of  hogans  (pronounced  ho-gan)  were 
modeled.  The  builders  claim,  however,  that  these  types  are  sacred  and  are 
constructed  after  legendary  designs.  There  are,  broadly  speaking,  two 
types,  the  summer  and  the  winter  hogan.  Both  are  miserably  crude  struc- 
tures and  wholly  at  variance  with  the  exquisite  blankets  designed  and  manu- 
factured therein.  One  would  naturally  think  that,  with  the  art  instinct 
highly  developed  in  one  line,  it  would  assert  itself  in  others,  and  espe- 

I 


2  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

cially  in  the  structures  erected  for  their  homes.  Yet  as  one  studies  the 
inner  life  of  the  Navaho  he  may  find  full  explanation  of  this  apparent 
contradiction.  In  the  first  place  the  Navaho  is  a  partial  nomad.  Never 
until  now  has  he  really  felt  himself  able  to  settle  down  anywhere.  He 
had  few  or  no  possessions  and  his  home,  therefore,  needed  to  be  only  a 
temporary  shelter  which  he  might  have  to  leave  at  a  moment's  or  an 
hour's  notice.  Hence,  why  should  he  make  it  beautiful,  and  have  his 
heart  grieved  at  being  compelled  to  forsake  it.  Superstition  also  requires 
thev  NayjihoS  to  burn  the  hog  an  after  a  death  has  taken  place  in  it.  Then, 
tot);  thfe  Navaho  does  not  regard  the  hogan  as  a  white  man  does  his 
ib6tii$.;  TJi?  latter  lives  in  his  house  and  goes  out  of  doors  as  his  busi- 
ness or  his  pleasure  demands.  The  Navaho,  on  the  other  hand,  lives  out 
of  doors.  That  is  his  home.  He  uses  his  hogan  as  a  convenient  place 
of  storage  and  a  stopping  place,  with  the  addition,  of  course,  in  winter, 
that  it  is  a  comfortable  sleeping  place  which  he  can  make  warm.  But  our 
idea  of  a  house  being  a  home  never  enters  his  mind.  He  loves  the 
beauty  of  the  out-of-doors.  He  regards  that  as  his  own,  and  the  poetry 
of  his  conceptions  in  a  variety  of  ways  is  remarkably  influenced  by  the 
glories  of  Nature.  These,  then,  are  reasons  against  the  making  of  a 
more  beautiful  and  permanent  dwelling. 

Who  but  a  Nature  poet,  even  in  his  legends,  could  have  conceived 
of  a  house  (hogan)  made  as  follows,  resplendent  and  magnificent,  as  did 
the  Navaho  creator  of  the  original  hogan: 

The  poles  were  made  of  precious  stones  such  as  white-shell,  turquoise,  abalone, 
obsidian,  and  red  stone,  and  were  five  in  number.  The  interstices  were  lined  with 
four  shelves  of  white-shell,  and  four  of  turquoise,  and  four  of  abalone  and  obsidian, 
each  corresponding  with  the  pole  of  the  respective  stone,  thus  combining  the  cardinal 
colors  of  white,  blue,  yellow  and  black  in  one  gorgeous  edifice.  The  floor,  too,  of 
this  structure  was  laid  with  a  fourfold  rug  of  obsidian,  abalone,  turquoise,  and  white 
shell,  each  spread  over  the  other  in  the  order  mentioned,  while  the  door  consisted 
of  a  quadruple  curtain  or  screen  of  dawn,  sky-blue,  evening  twilight,  and  darkness. 
As  a  matter  of  course  the  divine  builders  might  increase  its  size  at  will,  and  reduce 
it  to  a  minimum,  whenever  it  seemed  desirable  to  do  so.* 

Nor  is  this  the  only  gorgeous  hogan  of  the  poet's  imagination.  There 
are  others  which  were  the  prototypes  of  other  styles  in  use  today,  and 
also  for  hogans  for  especial  ceremonial  use. 

While  Father  Berard  states  that  the  present  custom  does  not  require 
special  dedicatory  ceremonies  at  the  completion  of  a  hogan,  Cosmos 
Mindeleff,  in  the  Seventeenth  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  gives  a  full  account  of  them,  and  they  are  so  wonderful,  for  a 
wild  and  barbaric  people,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  extracting  largely. 

*  Father  Berard  in  An  Ethnologic  Dictionary.  The  Franciscan  Fathers,  St.  Michels, 
Ariz. 


FIG.  i. 
A  Summer  Hogan. 

(Photo  by  A.  C.   Yroman.) 


FIG.  2. 
A  Winter  Hogan. 


WHERE  NAVAHO  BLANKETS  ARE  MADE  3 

Personally  I  have  witnessed  some  of  these  ceremonials,  have  recorded 
some  of  the  songs  in  my  graphophone,  and  have  felt  that  I  would  like 
to  give  to  the  American  civilized,  Christian  world,  a  ceremony  for  the 
dedication  of  its  houses  based  on  what  I  have  seen  and  learned  of  the 
home-dedication  rituals  of  these  heathen,  uncivilized,  unchristian  (!) 
people. 

Brotherly  helpfulness  is  the  rule  in  the  erection  of  a  Navaho  hogan, 
and  the  assistance  of  friends  generally  makes  it  possible  to  complete  the 
structure  in  one,  or  at  most  two  or  three  days.  The  wife  then  sweeps 
out  the  interior  with  a  grass  broom,  and  she  or  her  husband  lights  a 
fire  under  the  smoke-hole.  Then,  taking  a  saucer  or  bowl-shaped  basket 
she  fills  it  with  white  corn  meal  which  she  hands  over  to  the  head  of  the 
household.  He  proceeds  to  rub  a  handful  of  meal  on  each  of  the  five 
principal  timbers  of  which  the  hogan  frame  is  formed,  beginning  always 
with  the  south  doorway  timber.  He  rubs  the  meal  on  one  place,  as  high 
up  as  he  can  easily  reach,  and  always  in  the  following  order:  south  door- 
way, south,  west,  north  timbers,  and  the  north  doorway  timber.  All 
keep  reverent  silence  while  this  is  being  done.  Next,  with  a  sweeping 
motion  of  his  hand,  sunwise,  he  sprinkles  the  meal  to  the  outer  circum- 
ference of  the  room,  at  the  same  time  in  a  low,  measured,  chanting  tone 
saying: 

May  it  be  delightful,  my  house ; 
From  my  head  may  it  be  delightful; 
To  my  feet  may  it  be  delightful; 
Where  I  lie  may  it  be  delightful ; 
All  above  me  may  it  be  delightful  ; 
All  around  me  may  it  be  delightful. 

Then,  flinging  a  little  meal  into  the  fire  he  continues: 

May  it  be  delightful  and  well,  my  fire. 
Tossing  a  handful  or  two  of  meal  up  and  through  the  smoke-hole: 

May-  it  be  delightful,  Sun,  my  mother's  ancestor,  for  this 

gift ; 
May  it  be  delightful  as  I  walk  around  my  house. 

Now,  sprinkling  two  or  three  handfuls  out  of  the  doorway  he  says: 

May  it  be  delightful,  this  road  of  light   [the  path  of  the 
Sun],  my  mother's  ancestor. 


4  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

The  woman  of  the  house  now  advances,  makes  a  meal-offering  to  the 
fire,  and  says,  in  a  quiet  and  subdued  voice: 

May  it  be  delightful,  my  fire; 

May  it  be  delightful  for  my  children;  may  all  be  well; 

May  it  be  delightful  with  my  food  and  theirs;  may  all  be 

well; 

All  my  possessions  well  may  they  be  made. 
All  my  flocks  well  may  they  be  made  [that  is,  may  they  be 

healthful  and  increase]. 

Let  me  quote  Cosmos  Mindeleff  for  the  remainder  of  the  description: 

Night  will  have  fallen  ...  all  now  gather  inside,  the  blanket  is  suspended  over 
the  door-frame,  all  the  possessions  of  the  family  are  brought  in,  sheepskins  are  spread 
on  the  floor,  the  fire  is  brightened,  and  the  men  all  squat  around  it.  The  women 
bring  in  food  in  earthen  cooking  pots  and  basins,  and,  having  set  them  down  among 
the  men,  they  huddle  together  by  themselves  to  enjoy  the  occasion  as  spectators. 
Everyone  helps  himself  from  the  pots  by  dipping  in  with  his  fingers,  the  meat  is  broken 
into  pieces,  and  the  bones  are  gnawed  upon  and  sociably  passed  from  hand  to  hand. 
When  the  feast  is  finished  tobacco  and  corn  husks  are  produced,  cigarettes  are  made, 
everyone  smokes,  and  convivial  gossipy  talk  prevails.  This  continues  for  two  or  three 
hours,  when  the  people  who  live  near  by  get  up  their  horses  and  ride  home.  Those 
from  a  long  distance  either  find  places  to  sleep  in  the  hogan  or  wrap  themselves  in  their 
blankets  and  sleep  at  the  foot  of  a  tree.  This  ceremony  is  known  as  the  qogdn  aiila,  a 
kind  of  salutation  to  the  house. 

But  the  house  devotions  have  not  yet  been  observed.  Occasionally  these  take 
place  as  soon  as  the  house  is  finished,  but  usually  there  is  an  interval  of  several  days 
to  permit  the  house  builders  to  invite  all  their  friends  and  to  provide  the  necessary 
food  for  their  entertainment.  Although  analogous  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  "house-warm- 
ing," the  house  devotions,  besides  being  a  merrymaking  for  the  young  people,  have  a 
much  more  solemn  significance  for  the  elders.  If  they  be  not  observed  soon  after  the 
house  is  built  bad  dreams  will  plague  the  dwellers  therein,  toothache  (dreaded  for 
mystic  reasons)  will  torture  them,  and  the  evil  influence  from  the  north  will  cause 
them  all  kinds  of  bodily  ill;  the  flocks  will  dwindle,  ill  luck  will  come,  ghosts  will 
haunt  the  place,  and  the  house  will  become  batsic,  tabooed. 

A  few  days  after  the  house  is  finished  an  arrangement  is  made  with  some  shaman 
(devotional  singer)  to  come  and  sing  the  ceremonial  house  songs.  For  this  service  he 
always  receives  a  fee  from  those  who  engage  him,  perhaps  a  few  sheep  or  their  value, 
sometimes  three  or  four  horses  or  their  equivalent,  according  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  house-builders.  The  social  gathering  at  the  house-devotion  is  much  the  same  as 
that  of  the  salutation  to  the  house,  when  the  house  is  built,  except  that  more  people 
are  usually  invited  to  the  former.  They  feast  and  smoke,  interchange  scandal,  and 
talk  of  other  topics  of  interest,  for  some  hours.  Presently  the  shaman  seats  himself 
under  the  main  west  timber  so  as  to  face  the  east,  and  the  singing  begins. 

In  this  ceremony  no  rattle  is  used.  The  songs  are  begun  by  the  shaman  in  a 
drawling  tone  and  all  the  men  join  in.  The  shaman  acts  only  as  leader  and  director. 
Each  one,  and  there  are  many  of  them  in  the  tribe,  has  his  own  particular  songs,  fetiches, 
and  accompanying  ceremonies,  and  after  he  has  pitched  a  song  he  listens  closely  to 


FIG.  3. 
Mohave  Indian  Wearing  Rabbit-Skin  Blanket. 

(Photo  by  George  Wharton  James.) 


WHERE  NAVAHO  BLANKETS  ARE  MADE  5 

hear  whether  the  correct  words  are  sung.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  as  the 
omission  of  a  part  of  the  song  or  the  incorrect  rendering  of  any  word  would  entail  evil 
consequences  to  the  house  and  its  inmates.  All  the  house  songs  of  the  numerous 
shamans  are  of  similar  import,  but  differ  in  minor  details. 

The  first  song  is  addressed  to  the  east,  and  is  as  follows: 

Far  in  the  east  far  below  there  a  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

God  of  Dawn  there  his  house  was  made  ; 

Delightful  house. 

The  Dawn  there  his  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

White  corn  there  its  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

Soft  possessions  for  them  a  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

Water  in  plenty  surrounding  for  it  a  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

Corn  pollen  for  it  a  house  was  made ; 

Delightful  house. 

The  ancients  make  their  presence  delightful; 

Delightful  house. 

Immediately  following  this  song,  but  in  a  much  livelier  measure,  the  following 
benedictory  chant  is  sung: 

Before  me  may  it  be  delightful ; 
Behind  me  may  it  be  delightful  ; 
Around  me  may  it  be  delightful; 
Below  me  may  it  be  delightful; 
Above  me  may  it  be  delightful  ; 
All  (universally)  may  it  be  delightful. 

After  a  short  interval  the  following  is  sung  to  the  west: 

Far  in  the  west  far  below  there  a  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

God  of  Twilight  there  his  house  was  made ; 

Delightful  house. 

Yellow  light  of  evening  there  his  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

Yellow  corn  there  its  house  was  made; 

Delightful  house. 

Hard  possessions  there  their  house  was  made ; 

Delightful  house. 

Young  rain  there  its  house  was  made ; 

Delightful  house. 

Corn  pollen  there  its  house  was  made  ; 

Delightful  house. 

The  ancients  make  their  presence  delightful  ; 

Delightful  house. 


6  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

The  song  to  the  west  is  also  followed  by  the  benedictory  chant,  as  above,  and 
after  this  the  song  which  was  sung  to  the  east  is  repeated ;  but  this  time  it  is  addressed 
to  the  south.  The  song  to  the  west  is  then  repeated,  but  addressed  to  the  north,  and 
the  two  songs  are  repeated  alternately  until  each  one  has  been  sung  three  times  to  each 
cardinal  point.  The  benedictory  chant  is  sung  between  each  repetition. 

All  the  men  present  join  in  the  singing  under  the  leadership  of  the  shaman,  who 
does  not  himself  sing,  but  only  starts  each  song.  The  women  never  sing  at  these 
gatherings,  although  on  other  occasions,  when  they  get  together  by  themselves,  they 
sing  very  sweetly.  It  is  quite  common  to  hear  a  primitive  kind  of  part  singing,  some 
piping  in  a  curious  falsetto,  others  droning  a  deep  bass. 

The  songs  are  addressed  to  each  of  the  cardinal  points,  because  in  the  Navaho 
system  different  groups  of  deities  are  assigned  to  each  of  these  points.  The  Navaho 
also  makes  a  distinction  between  heavy  rain  and  light  rain.  The  heavy  rain,  such 
as  accompanies  thunder  storms,  is  regarded  as  the  "  male  rain,"  while  the  gentle  show- 
ers, or  "  young  rains,"  coming  directly  from  the  house  of  Estsanatlehi,  are  regarded 
as  especially  beneficent;  but  both  are  deemed  necessary  to  fertilize.  A  distinction  is 
also  made  between  "hard  possessions,"  such  as  turquois  and  coral  beads,  shell  orna- 
ments, and  all  articles  made  from  hard  substances,  and  "  soft  possessions,"  which  com- 
prise blankets  and  all  textile  substances,  skins,  etc.  The  Navaho  prays  that  his  house 
may  cover  many  of  both  hard  and  soft  possessions. 

The  songs  given  above  are  known  as  the  twelve  house  songs,  although  there  are 
only  two  songs,  each  repeated  twelve  times.  These  are  sung  with  many  variations  by 
the  different  shamans,  and  while  the  builders  are  preparing  for  this  ceremony  they 
discuss  which  shaman  has  the  best  and  most  beautiful  words  before  they  decide  which 
one  to  engage.  But  the  songs  are  invariably  addressed  to  the  deities  named,  Quast- 
ceyalci,  the  God  of  Dawn,  and  Qastceqogan,  the  God  of  Twilight;  and  they  always 
have  the  same  general  significance. 

After  the  "  twelve  songs  "  are  finished  many  others  are  sung :  to  Estsanatlehi,  a 
benignant  Goddess  of  the  West,  and  to  Yol'kai  Estsan,  the  complementary  Goddess 
of  the  East;  to  the  sun,  the  dawn,  and  twilight;  to  the  light  and  to  the  darkness;  to 
the  six  sacred  mountains,  and  to  many  other  members  of  a  very  numerous  theogony. 
Other  song-prayers  are  chanted  directly  to  malign  influences,  beseeching  them  to 
remain  far  of?;  to  evil  in  general;  to  coughs  and  lung  evils,  and  to  sorcerers,  praying 
them  not  to  come  near  the  dwelling.  The  singing  of  the  songs  is  so  timed  that  the 
last  one  is  delivered  just  as  the  gray  streaks  of  dawn  appear,  when  the  visitors  round 
up  their  horses  and  ride  home.* 

Father  Berard,  whose  knowledge  is  profound,  and  whose  care  in 
making  assertions  is  equal  to  his  knowledge,  contends  that  these  songs 
are  only  incidentally  connected  with  a  ceremony  of  house  dedication,  but 
are  essential  to  the  Vigil  or  Rite  of  Blessing  which  is  performed  fre- 
quently in  the  same  hogan,  in  order  that  the  blessing  may  be  renewed 
upon  the  members  of  the  family  and  all  their  possessions.  He  goes  fur- 
ther and  states : 

Moreover,  it  is  in  accordance  with  good  custom  to  have  other  ceremonies  per- 
formed in  a  new  hogan  previous  to  the  invocation  of  the  house  songs.  In  fact,  this 

*  Cosmos  Mindeleff,  Navaho  Houses,  pp.  504-509,  in  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  Bureau 
of  Ethnology. 


FIG.  4- 
Rare  Old  Bayeta  Blanket. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


[PAGE    20] 


WHERE  NAVAHO  BLANKETS  ARE  MADE  7 

custom  suggests  that  at  times  the  new  hogan  is  built  for  the  purpose  of  having  a 
desirable  ceremony  performed,  For,  while  greater  convenience  makes  a  summer  and 
winter  home  desirable  at  different  points,  and  such  natural  causes  as  scarcity  of  range 
and  water  frequently  decide  a  change  in  location,  this  change  is  at  times  due  to  an 
evil  spell  which  may  haunt  a  vicinity.  Should  this  continue,  despite  all  efforts  to  dispel 
such  influence,  a  new  dwelling  is  erected  in  some  other  locality,  and  its  occupation 
inaugurated  with  some  effective  and  purifying  ceremony.* 

In  Fig.  I  we  have  a  good  representation  of  a  summer  hogan.  This 
is  invariably  near  the  cornfields  or  other  farming  place,  and  as  conven- 
ient as  possible  to  the  sheep  range.  Suitable  corrals  are  constructed  for 
the  care  of  the  sheep  during  the  night  time,  and  where  possible  the  close 
proximity  of  a  spring,  running  stream,  or  pool  of  water  is  desired. 

It  is  in  the  selection  of  the  site  and  the  erection  of  the  winter  hogan 
(Fig.  2)  that  the  Navaho  shows  the  greatest  care.  He  must  see  that 
there  are  no  red  ant  hills  near  by,  as,  aside  from  the  perpetual  discom- 
fort of  too  close  proximity  to  these  pests,  his  legendary  lore  has  taught 
him  that  it  was  these  small  but  annoying  creatures  that  separated  First 
Man  from  the  Gods.  There  must  be  an  unobstructed  view  to  the  east 
from  the  doorway,  as  the  beneficial  influences  of  the  God  of  Sunrise  are 
much  appreciated  by  the  devout  Navaho. 

Now  the  five  chief  timbers  must  be  found,  three  of  these  to  termi- 
nate in  a  spreading  fork,  the  other  two,  for  the  doorway,  being  selected 
for  their  straightness.  As  there  is  no  standard  of  size,  the  poles  need 
not  be  any  set  size,  but  they  are  generally  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  long. 

Few  white  men  would  call  the  Navaho  hogan  beautiful,  for  there 
is  seldom,  if  ever,  the  slightest  attempt  made  to  adorn  it,  yet  to  the 
Indian  it  is  beautiful  in  accordance  with  his  myths  and  the  closeness  to 
which  he  adheres  to  the  ancient  model  in  its  construction.  Strength  of 
timber,  dryness,  warmth,  and  smoothness  of  floor,  good  bark  and  other 
material  to  allow  the  piling  over  it  of  the  earth  covering,  these  make  the 
hogan  mjoni  —  the  house  beautiful  —  of  the  Navaho.  And  surely  when 
he  recalls  the  stories  of  the  first  hogans  made  by  the  gods,  if  he  sees  in 
his  own  rude  and  primitive  dwelling  any  of  the  charm  and  glory  asso- 
ciated with  those  early  houses  he  must  see  great  and  wonderful  beauty 
in  them. 

*From  An  Ethnologic  Dictionary. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Birth  and  Growth  of  the  Art  of  Navaho  Blanket-Weaving 

WHAT  would  civilized  mankind  do  without  its  textile  fabrics  — 
goods  woven  from  wool,  cotton,  flax,  and  other  fibers?  Imagine 
the  world  of  today  without  its  cottons  and  calicoes  for  dresses,  shirts, 
waists,  sheets,  and  the  thousand  and  one  things  for  which  they  are  used; 
its  linens;  its  woollens;  its  silks;  its  carpets;  its  manillas,  and  its  scores  of 
other  materials  woven  into  specific  shapes,  or  in  the  piece  for  cutting  out 
and  making  into  the  objects  required.  Destroy  the  art  of  weaving  and 
in  one  month  civilized  mankind  would  send  up  such  a  wail  of  deprivation 
and  distress  as  would  resound  from  pole  to  pole  and  completely  encircle 
the  earth. 

Whence,  then,  came  this  useful,  this  necessary  art?  To  whom  do 
we  owe  its  introduction?  Necessarily,  it  is  one  of  those  arts  which  only 
the  highest  civilization  could  have  evolved;  it  must  have  come  from  the 
French,  the  Germans,  the  English,  or,  if  slightly  less  modern,  from  the 
Greeks  and  Romans! 

Nay,  nay! 

Then  it  is  an  oriental  art,  brought  to  us  from  the  Arabs,  or  the  Hin- 
doos, the  Japanese,  or  Chinese? 

Nay,  it  is  not  from  these. 

It  goes  back  to  the  primitive  little  brown  woman,  the  aboriginal 
mother,  who  sought  for  something  more  than  mere  skins  to  clothe  her 
helpless  babe  and  herself  when  the  rigorous  storms  of  winter  quickened 
her  intellect  through  her  maternal  affection  —  or  instinct,  if  her  affection- 
ate nature  had  not  yet  evolved. 

There  is  much  evidence  to  prove  that  long,  long  before  the  art  of 
making  pottery  was  discovered,  weaving  had  attained  a  fair  degree  of 
perfection.  Ropes  twisted,  braided,  and  knotted  were  used;  nets  had 
long  been  in  use  for  carrying  small  objects;  mats,  sandals,  doorway  cover- 
ings, etc.,  were  made  of  yucca  fiber,  cedar  bark,  and  other  fibers,  and 
prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  the  Amerind  had  found  out  all 
about  cotton,  had  learned  how  to  grow  it,  to  card,  spin,  and  weave  it,  and 
many  of  our  museums  have  specimens  of  cotton  cloth  in  many  weaves 
secured  from  graves  that  were  ancient  and  the  objects  of  tradition  before 
the  Spaniards  arrived. 

8 


ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET-WEAVING  9 

Too  often  have  we  imagined  that  human  progress  began  with  us. 
Human  conceit  does  not  lessen  as  we  grow  in  years.  This  is  a  pity,  for 
it  shuts  us  out  from  closer  knowledge  and  sympathy  with  the  peoples  of 
the  past,  fosters  our  own  ignorance,  which  needs  no  fostering  to  reveal 
it  as  colossal,  and,  worst  of  all,  it  brings  upon  us  the  inevitable  and 
evil  results  that  always  follow  in  the  train  of  pride,  conceit,  and  ignorance, 
whether  these  traits  be  manifested  in  a  race,  a  nation,  a  state,  or  an 
individual.  There  are  but  few  of  the  beneficial  inventions  that  pertain 
to  the  home  and  personal  life  of  mankind,  the  first  steps  of  which  —  by 
far  the  most  important  —  were  not  discovered  by  these  patient,  pathetic 
pioneers  among  the  facts  of  human  existence  —  the  aborigines.  In  one 
phase  of  its  author's  thought  this  book  is  a  humble  and  tardy,  though 
none  the  less  sincere,  tribute  to  the  worth  and  work  of  the  aboriginal 
woman.  Too  long  has  the  debt  been  unrecognized.  The  sooner  we 
send  out  our  song  of  thanks  to  her  —  no  matter  how  many  centuries  may 
have  elapsed  since  she  passed  on  —  the  better  for  us.  Unpaid  obliga- 
tions always  weigh  down  those  who  have  not  paid,  whether  through 
ignorance,  carelessness,  indifference,  or  pride.  In  the  case  of  ignorance 
its  punishment  is  itself  —  more  ignorance.  In  that  of  carelessness,  indif- 
ference, and  pride,  the  law  of  life  is  that  "with  what  measure  ye  mete  it 
shall  be  measured  to  you  again."  And  ingratitude  ever  brings  its  own 
special  train  of  evils  upon  the  ungrateful. 

It  will  be  evident,  therefore,  that  I  propose  that  the  weaving  art 
of  the  Amerind  shall  speak  for  itself  to  the  culture  of  the  civilized  races 
of  today.  It  needs  no  apology;  it  stands  upon  its  own  worth.  It  came, 
a  full-fledged  art  from  their  hands  to  us,  and  as  recipients  we  shall  do 
well  to  understand,  as  far  as  we  may,  the  various  steps  through  which  it 
arduously  climbed  to  its  present  stage  of  perfection. 

It  seems  reasonable  to  assume  that  blanketry  was  an  outcome  of 
basketry.  The  latter  approximates  more  nearly  to  natural  processes,  as 
in  the  weaving  of  twigs  together  to  form  the  birds*  nests,  or  the  simple 
interlacing  and  intertwining  of  vines,  etc.,  in  their  wild  state.  This  art 
once  commenced,  and  pliable  and  flexible  twigs  once  used  for  the  weaving 
of  baskets,  it  could  scarcely  be  called  another  art  that  the  making  of 
textile  fabrics  followed.  It  was  simply  the  merging  of  the  use  of  the  less 
flexible  and  coarse  into  the  more  flexible  and  fine. 

When  all  these  processes  actually  began  we  do  not  know.  The 
most  ancient  literature  of  all  peoples  took  it  for  granted  that  readers 
were  familiar  with  weaving  and  the  varied  products  of  the  loom,  as  the 
art  long  antedated  written  language.  When  Moses  was  instructed  to 
call  upon  the  children  of  Israel  for  materials  for  the  tabernacle  he  asked 
for  fine  linen  and  other  spun  objects,  and  we  are  told  (Exodus  35:25)* 


io  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

"And  all  the  women  that  were  wise-hearted  did  spin  with  their  hands, 
and  brought  that  which  they  had  spun,  both  of  blue,  and  of  purple,  and 
of  scarlet,  and  of  fine  linen." 

The  Navahos  have  a  legend  which  claims  divine  origin  for  the  art 
of  weaving.  It  is  related  as  follows  in  their  "Moving  Upward"  chant: 

The  Spider  Man  drew  some  cotton  from  his  side  and  instructed  the  Navaho  to 
make  a  loom.  The  cotton-warp  was  made  of  spider-web.  The  upper  cross-pole  was 
called  the  sky-cord,  the  lower  cross-pole  the  earth-cord.  The  warp-sticks  were  made 
of  sun  rays ;  the  upper  strings,  fastening  the  warp  to  the  pole,  of  lightning ;  the  lower 
strings  of  sun-halo;  the  heald  was  a  rock-crystal;  the  cord-heald  stick  was  made  of 
sheet-lightning,  and  was  secured  to  the  warp  strands  by  means  of  rain-ray-cords. 

The  batten-stick  was  also  made  of  sun-halo,  while  the  comb  was  of  white  shell. 
Four  spindles  or  distaffs  were  added  to  this,  the  disks  of  which  were  of  cannel-coal, 
turquoise,  abalone,  and  white  bead,  respectively,  and  the  spindle-sticks  of  zigzag  light- 
ning, flash  lightning,  sheet  lightning,  and  rain-ray,  respectively. 

The  dark  blue,  yellow,  and  white  winds  quickened  the  spindles  according  to  their 
color,  and  enabled  them  to  travel  around  the  world.* 

Sheep  perhaps  were  the  first  animals  to  be  domesticated,  and  in 
the  most  ancient  literature  we  find  constant  references  to  them,  both  as 
flocks  and  as  individual  animals.  The  patriarchs  of  the  Old  Testament 
owned  sheep  by  the  thousands,  and  lived  very  much  like  the  Navahos  of 
today,  moving  their  homes  from  place  to  place  as  their  sheep  required 
fresh  pasture  and  water.  They  used  the  flesh  of  the  sheep  for  food,  and 
their  skins  for  clothing  and  to  sleep  upon.  Later,  when  the  art  of  weav- 
ing was  invented  the  fleeces  were  spun  and  woven,  even  as  the  Navahos 
spin  and  weave  them  today.  A  fascinating  chapter  could  be  made  up  in 
this  book  of  references  to  sheep,  shepherds,  sheep-folds,  the  habits  of 
sheep,  the  shearing  of  sheep,  weaving,  dyeing,  etc.,  from  the  Hebrew 
scriptures,  nearly  all  of  which  could  be  applied  with  truth  and  force  to 
the  Navaho  shepherd  as  he  is  today.  And  such  a  chapter  would  help 
to  give  to  the  reader  a  clearer  comprehension  of  the  life  of  the  Navaho 
shepherd  than  any  brief  and  cursory  account  could  do. 

Few  biblical  students  think  of  the  Navaho  when  reading  the  exquisite 
twenty-third  psalm,  yet  few  shepherds  surpass  these  New  Mexican  aborig- 
ines in  their  care  to  see  that  their  flocks  are  made  uto  lie  down  in  green 
pastures,"  or  led  "beside  the  still  waters." 

In  their  sacred  songs  there  are  many  references  to  sheep  and  their 
care,  and  a  Navaho  shaman  might  have  been  the  original  author  of  such 
passages  as:  "Be  thou  diligent  to  know  the  state  of  thy  flocks,  and  look 
well  to  thy  herds."  (Proverbs,  27:23.) 

From  the  day  they  are  able  to  toddle  young  Navaho  boys  and  girls 

*  From  An  Ethnologic  Dictionary. 


ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET-WEAVING  n 

are  taught  the  duties,  privileges,  joys,  and  responsibilities  of  the  shep- 
herd. On  all  my  trips  over  the  Navaho  reservation  this  has  been  one 
of  my  great  pleasures,  to  find,  in  a  score  of  instances,  young  lads  of  ten, 
twelve,  fourteen  years,  and  sometimes  girls  of  the  same  age,  alone, 
in  charge  of  a  flock  of  a  hundred,  or  several  hundred  sheep.  Nor  is  attend- 
ing to  a  flock  of  sheep  a  mere  perfunctory  task.  There  is  much  to  do 
and  much  to  know  properly  to  care  for  them.  Pasture  must  be  found, 
therefore  all  the  good  and  available  ranges  within  the  area  of  their 
roaming  must  be  known  to  the  young  shepherd.  Water  also  is  as  essen- 
tial as  grass,  hence  the  apparently  marvelous  knowledge  the  Navaho 
youths  possess  of  water-pockets,  casual  ponds,  tanks-in-the-rocks,  springs, 
etc.  A  score  of  times  when  traveling,  my  Navaho  drivers  have  stopped 
the  team,  unhitched  the  horses,  left  me  to  my  own  devices  in  the  heart 
of  the  desert,  and  ridden  off  with  a  wild  whoop,  carrying  all  the  available 
canteens.  In  half  an  hour,  an  hour,  and  occasionally,  even  longer,  they 
would  return,  the  horses  and  themselves  fully  refreshed  with  the  water 
they  had  found,  and  their  canteens  or  tusjehs  full  of  the  precious  fluid. 

Dogs  help  them  protect  their  charge  from  the  attacks  of  coyotes, 
mountain  lions,  and  other  beasts  of  prey,  and  there  are  few  of  the  shepherds 
who  are  not  expert  in  the  use  of  the  shotgun.  They  also  become  astute 
interpreters  of  weather  signs;  they  learn  to  read  the  changing  face  of  the 
heavens,  as  one  fierce  and  unprepared-for  storm  might  rob  them  of  their 
whole  herd.  Hence  these  youngsters,  perforce,  are  weather-wise  to  a 
remarkable  degree,  and  they  know  when  the  time  has  come  for  them  to 
move  from  the  open  plains  to  the  foothills,  and  thence  to  the  higher 
ranges,  where  grass  lingers,  and  when  browse  can  be  found  in  the 
chaparral  long  after  the  grass  has  been  buried  by  winter's  snows.  For 
Navaho  sheep  soon  learn  that  they  must  not  be  too  choice  and  particular 
as  to  their  diet.  They  must  eat  what  they  can  get,  rather  than  what 
they  prefer. 

Lambing  time,  too,  requires  no  small  knowledge  and  skill,  and  while 
the  fathers  and  mothers  aid  at  this  and  at  all  other  needed  times,  it 
behooves  the  young  shepherds  to  be  ready  for  everything  that  may  happen. 

Their  knowledge  of  the  individual  members  of  their  flocks  seems 
like  magic,  for,  to  a  casual  observer,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  one  sheep 
from  another  in  a  flock  of  say  five  hundred,  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  or  a 
thousand  animals.  Yet  many  a  time  when  I  have  wanted  to  buy  a  sheep, 
the  juvenile  shepherd  has  first  gained  his  mother's  consent  to  the  sale, 
and  then  partaken  in  a  discussion  as  to  which  animal  should  be  delivered 
over  to  the  slaughter.  Then,  with  sure  and  certain  movements,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  search  out,  find,  and  steal  upon  the  selected  creature,  with  a 
knowledge  as  certain  as  that  of  a  mother  in  designating  her  children. 


12 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


But  however  interesting  sheep  and  shepherds  may  be  to  us,  we  must 
now  return  to  a  consideration  of  the  art  of  weaving.  That  it  was  known  to 
the  Amerind  long  prior  to  the  time  of  Columbus  is  as  clearly  established 
as  any  fact  in  history. 

The  fabrics  woven  and  used  in  the  making  and  decoration  of  pot- 
tery, according  to  Holmes,  consisted  generally  of 

the  fibre  of  bark,  flax,  hemp,  nettles,  and  grasses,  which  were  spun  into  thread  of 
various  sizes;  or  of  splints  of  wood,  twigs,  roots,  vines,  porcupine  quills,  feathers,  and 
a  variety  of  animal  tissues,  either  plaited  or  used  in  an  untwisted  state.  The  articles 
produced  were  mats,  baskets,  nets,  bags,  plain  cloths,  and  entire  garments,  such  as 
capes,  hats,  belts,  and  sandals.* 

'When  cotton  made  its  appearance  in  America  is  not  known,  yet  it 
must  have  been  quite  early,  for  in  the  ruined  and  prehistoric  Cliff  Dwell- 
ings many  cotton  fabrics  have  been  found.  Holmes,  Bandelier,  Norden- 
skiold,  Fewkes,  and  others  have  described  the  cottons  thus  found.  At 
Awatobi,  one  of  the  ruined  pueblos  of  the  Hopi,  fragments  of  cloth  of 
cotton  and  agave  fibre,  and  of  cotton  alone  were  gathered. 

When  the  European  first  discovered  the  American  Indians  of  the 
Southwest  he  found  them  wearing  blankets  and  other  garments  of  their 
own  weaving,  mostly  made  of  cotton,  which  they  grew,  cleaned,  carded, 
spun,  and  dyed  themselves.  Cabez  de  Vaca,  in  his  Relacion,  states  that 
he  found  the  natives  wearing  linen  and  woolen  cloths,  and  at  one  place 
fine  cotton  shawls,  all  of  their  own  weaving. 

Fray  Marcos  de  Nizza,  when  he  made  his  memorable  reconnoissance 
into  New  Mexico  in  1538,  says  that  the  natives  were  dressed  in  cotton- 
cloth,  and  that  the  men  of  Cibola  wore  long  cotton  gowns  which  reached 
to  their  feet. 

When  Coronado  reached  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola  (Zuni)  in  1540, 
he  found  the  people  wearing  cotton  blankets.  Castafieda  says:  "The 
women  wear  blankets,  which  they  tie  or  knot  over  the  left  shoulder,  leav- 
ing the  right  arm  out.  These  serve  to  cover  the  body."  This  is  an  exact 
description  of  the  Pueblo  Indian  woman's  dress  of  today. 

Later,  when  Don  Pedro  de  Tobar  went  to  explore  the  Province  of 
Tusayan — the  home  of  the  Hopi — and  the  Indians  barred  his  pathway,  he 
fell  upon  them  and  vanquished  them.  Then  they  brought  gifts,  among 
which  were  cotton  cloth  of  their  own  manufacture. 

About  forty-five  miles  west  of  Oraibi,  in  the  Province  of  Tusayan, 
the  Hopis  had  a  fairly  large  area  of  cultivable  land  which  to  this  dayns 
known  to  the  Navahos  as  "  the  cotton-planting  ground." 

The  Pueblo  Indians,  in  the  ancient  days,  used  blankets  in  their  larger 

*  W.  H.  Holmes,  in  Third  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 


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ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET- WEAVING  13 

doorways  as  covering  for  cold  weather.  There  was  no  other  provided 
way  of  closing  them.  Until  a  few  years  ago  doorways  existed  where  a 
slight  pole,  of  the  same  kind  as  those  used  in  the  lintel,  was  built  into 
the  masonry  of  the  jambs  a  few  inches  below  the  lintel  proper.  Upon 
this  the  blanket  was  hung.* 

These  blankets,  however,  were  made  up  of  agave  fibre  and  cotton, 
or  of  one  or  the  other  alone  —  not  of  wool.  For,  prior  to  the  coming 
of  the  Spaniards,  wool  was  unknown  in  North  America. 

Sheep  were  first  brought  into  New  Mexico  by  Coronado  in  1540, 
but  his  flocks  were  killed  after  his  return  to  Mexico.  Then  when  Juan 
de  Onate  came  he  brought  a  fresh  supply  in  which  were  some  fine  Span- 
ish merinos,  and  since  then  sheep  have  never  failed  in  New  Mexico,  in 
spite  of  the  rebellion  which  drove  out  the  Spaniards,  nomad  and  thieving 
Indians,  drought,  and  famine.  Indeed,  for  many  years  New  Mexico's 
chief  dependence  was  upon  its  sheep.  We  are  told  that  uin  1822  Fran- 
cisco Xavier  Chavez,  then  governor,  better  known  as  El  Guero  (The 
Blond),  owned  over  a  million  sheep.  These  were  let  out  on  shares  to 
men  all  over  the  territory.  A  later  governor,  Bartolome  Baca,  had  nearly 
as  many.  An  old  Mexican  was  living  in  1899,  wno  used  to  be  one  of 
Baca's  majordomos,  and  had  had  charge  of  500,000  sheep,  with  seven 
hundred  shepherds  under  him.  All  the  shepherds  were  armed  with  flint- 
lock muskets,  and  frequently  had  to  use  them  against  the  savages,  as  well 
as  in  keeping  down  the  bears,  cougars,  wolves,  coyotes,  and  other  animals. 

It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  enquire  whence  gained  the 
Navaho  his  flocks  and  herds  of  sheep  and  goats.  This  question  opens 
up  a  very  interesting  phase  of  early  Spanish  and  Pueblo  history.  When 
the  Spaniards  came  and  the  Franciscans  began  their  work  of  Christian- 
izing and  civilizing  the  Indian,  the  roving  Navaho  never  came  much  under 
their  influence.  But  the  sedentary  Pueblo  was  material  ready  to  hand, 
as  it  were,  and  the  priests  made  the  most  of  him.  The  result  was  churches 
were  built  in  many  of  the  Pueblos  of  New  Mexico  (including  what  is 
now  Arizona),  such  as  San  Ildefonso,  Zuni,  Acoma,  Awatobi,  Oraibi, 
and  other  of  the  Hopi  pueblos.  This  was  not  done  without  arousing  the 
fiercest  hostility,  and  in  time,  deadly  hatred  of  the  native  shamans,  medi- 
cine-men, or  priests.  Again  and  again  the  Hopis  rose  in  rebellion  against 
the  "  long  gowns  " — as  they  called  the  Franciscan  friars  —  and  the  bearded 
warriors  of  Spain.  On  Inscription  Rock,  in  New  Mexico,  we  read  the 
rude  record,  made  on  the  yielding  but  retaining  rock,  of  the  expedition 
of  Don  Feliz  Martinez,  Governor  and  Captain  General  of  New  Mexico, 
for  "the  reduction  of  the  Zunis."  Padre  Letrado  was  slain  in  Zuni  at 

*  Cosmos  Mindeleff,  Pueblo  Architecture,  p.  182,  in  Eighth  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of 

Ethnology. 


i4  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  incitement  of  the  aboriginal  priests.  The  whole  pueblo  of  Awatobi 
was  wiped  out  of  existence  because  its  leading  men  even  tolerated  and 
welcomed  the  presence  of  the  padres.  From  six  hundred  to  a  thousand 
people  thus  perished,  showing  the  extreme  lengths  to  which  the  native 
priests  would  go  to  defend  their  own  religion  from  extinction.* 

Added  to  the  fury  of  religious  superstition  was  the  anger  of  free 
peoples  made  subservient  to  the  domination  of  outsiders.  The  Spaniards 
were  not  always  kind  and  politic  in  their  dealings  with  the  peoples  they 
subjugated,  and  in  their  treatment  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  they  were  espe- 
cially unwise. 

They  took  the  calm  and  unresisting  demeanor  of  these  Quaker-like 
people  for  poor-spiritedness  and  cowardice.  Never  were  they  more  mis- 
taken, as  they  found  in  the  great  Pueblo  rebellion  in  1680.  At  this  time, 
largely  instigated  by  a  Santa  Clara  patriot  named  Pope  —  a  true  aborig- 
inal Patrick  Henry  and  George  Washington  rolled  into  one  —  the  whole 
of  the  Pueblo  population  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  arose  against 
the  hated  invader,  with  his  long-gowned  priests,  and  drove  all  whom  they 
did  not  slay  out  of  the  country.  Then,  fearful  of  the  vengeance  they  soon 
began  to  expect  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  the  "  rebellious  people  " — 
nay,  nay,  let  us  call  them  by  their  proper  name  —  these  true-hearted 
patriots  who  had  arisen  in  defense  of  their  hearths,  their  homes,  the 
graveyards  of  their  ancestors,  their  cornfields,  their  hunting-grounds,  their 
religion,  their  ceremonies,  their  honor,  their  families,  and  the  preservation 
of  their  national  existence  —  hid  themselves  on  fortified  mesas  in  the  old 
inaccessible  cliff-dwellings  and  elsewhere  until  the  storm  should  have 
passed.  But  the  Spaniards  were  long  in  coming;  therefore  the  fear  of 
vengeance  was  long  continued.  One  evil  result  of  these  constant  conflicts 
and  of  this  waiting  for  the  avenging  blow  of  the  Spaniards  to  fall  was 
that  the  Pueblo  Indians  were  unable  to  care  for  the  sheep  and  goats 
which  the  Spaniards  had  brought  to  them  very  early  in  their  relationship. 
The  Navahos  had  already  secured  some  of  these  new  animals.  Now 
were  chances  many  for  materially  adding  to  their  four-footed  possessions. 

For  centuries  they  had  been  at  war  with  the  Pueblo,  and  naturally 
everything  owned  by  him  was  regarded  as  legitimate  prey.  Doubtless 
soon  after  sheep  were  brought  to  the  country  they  learned  the  flavor  of 
mutton,  and  thenceforth  found  it  easier  to  steal  sheep  than  to  go  out  on 
long,  wearisome  deer,  antelope,  and  coyote  hunts  for  their  food.  Then, 
too,  sheep  were  surer  of  capture  than  wild  animals. 

Nor  was  it  alone  from  the  Pueblos  that  the  Navahos  learned  to 
steal.  They  had  no  love  for  the  Spaniard  and  Mexican.  How  could 

*This  interesting  story  is  fully  told  in  my  Old  Franciscan  Missions  of  New  Mexico,, 
Arizona,  and  Texas. 


M 


—     £ 


ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET- WEAVING  15 

they  have?  The  possessor  of  a  land  seldom  loves  those  who  come  to 
dispossess  him,  and  the  Navahos'  predatory  instincts  were  not  long  in 
asserting  themselves  in  their  dealings  with  the  newcomers.  Indeed,  every 
page  of  the  history  of  Spain's  and  Mexico's  dealings  with  New  Mexico 
is  interlined  with  records  of  Navaho  raids  and  thefts,  and  corresponding 
losses  of  sheep,  horses,  and  cattle. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  to  note  in  passing  that  the  Hopi  and  other 
Pueblo  Indians  from  whom  the  Navahos  stole  their  first  bands  of  sheep 
now  freely  acknowledge  that,  had  it  not  been  for  these  thefts,  they  them- 
selves would  have  had  no  sheep  later  on.  Here  is  their  explanation. 
Soon  after  their  subjugation  by  the  Spaniards,  who  brought  the  sheep  to 
them,  the  fierce  Utes  of  the  North  and  East  used  to  swoop  down  upon 
them  in  relentless  raids  and  steal  everything  upon  which  they  could  lay 
their  hands.  The  semi-nomad  Navahos,  who  did  not  accumulate  house- 
hold and  other  goods  as  did  the  Hopis,  though  they  lived  in  the  raided 
region,  were  less  troubled  by  the  rapacious  marauders.  Hence  they 
never  entered  into  any  compact  with  the  harassed  Pueblo  Indians  for 
purposes  of  joint  defense,  although  now  and  again  they  suffered  severely. 
They  held  their  land  and  defied  their  foes,  and  along  the  valleys  of  the 
South  of  the  San  Juan  the  edges  of  the  numerous  mesas  are  lined  with 
stone-wall  breastworks,  and  the  remains  are  still  to  be  seen  of  many  rude 
but  well-chosen  defenses,  erected  by  them  to  repel  Ute  attacks.  Being 
better  fighters  than  the  Pueblos,  they  succeeded  in  guarding  their  flocks 
and  herds  from  the  enemy,  whereas  the  Pueblos  lost  every  sheep  and 
horse  they  possessed.  Hence,  while  the  Navaho  sheep  were  originally 
stolen  from  the  Pueblos,  or  captured  in  their  fighting  affrays  with  them, 
it  was  the  fact  that  they  had  guarded  the  stolen  herds  so  successfully  that 
enabled  the  Pueblos  later  on  to  obtain  sheep  again. 

In  seeking  to  find  out  from  whence  the  Navaho  learned  the  art  of 
weaving  the  questioning  mind  naturally  halts  at  this  point  and  asks 
whether  there  is  any  relation  between  the  stealing  of  Spanish  and  Pueblo 
sheep  by  the  Navahos  and  their  induction  into  the  art  of  weaving. 

American  archaeologists  and  ethnologists  have  all  assumed  that  the 
art  of  weaving  on  the  loom  was  learned  by  the  Navahos  from  their  Pueblo 
neighbors.  All  the  facts  in  the  case  seem  to  bear  out  this  supposition. 
Yet,  as  is  well  known,  the  Navahos  are  a  part  of  the  great  Athabascan 
family,  which  has  scattered,  by  separate  migrations,  from  Alaska  into 
California,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico.  Many  of  the  Alaskans  are  good 
weavers,  and,  according  to  Navaho  traditions,  their  ancestors,  when  they 
came  into  the  country,  wore  blankets  that  were  made  of  cedar  bark  and 
yucca  fibre.  Even  in  the  Alaska  (Thlinket)  blankets,  made  today  of  the 
wool  of  the  white  mountain  goat,  cedar  bark  is  twisted  in  with  the  wool 


1 6  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

of  the  warp.  Why,  then,  should  not  the  Navaho  woman  have  brought 
the  art  of  weaving,  possibly  in  a  very  primitive  stage,  from  her  original 
Alaskan  home?  That  her  art,  however,  has  been  improved  by  her  con- 
tact with  the  Pueblo  and  other  Indians  there  can  be  no  question,  and,  if 
she  had  a  crude  loom,  it  was  speedily  replaced  by  the  one  so  long  used 
by  the  Pueblo.  Where  the  Pueblo  weaver  gained  his  loom  we  do  not 
know,  whether  from  the  tribes  of  the  South  or  by  his  own  invention. 
But  in  all  practical  ways  the  primitive  loom  was  as  complete  and  perfect 
at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest  as  it  is  today. 

According  to  the  Rev.  Father  A.  G.  Morice,  O.  M.  L,  for  many 
years  a  missionary  among  the  Denes  of  British  Columbia,  doubtless  a 
branch  of  the  Navaho  family,  the  loom  used  by  these  western  Indians 
is  much  more  crude  than  that  of  our  Navahos.  It  consists  simply  of  a 
foursquare  heavy  frame,  the  warp  strings  being  attached  to  the  top  and 
bottom  beams,  with  no  method  for  tightening  the  warp.  He  states  that 
the  only  weaving  they  did  was  of  rabbit-skin  blankets.  The  skins  were 
twisted  —  corresponding  to  the  spinning  of  yarn  —  by  first  soaking  them 
in  water  and  then  twisting  the  strips  by  rolling  them  upon  the  naked 
thigh.  Each  skin  was  made  to  yield  a  single  band,  and  each  band  was 
knotted  end  to  end  so  as  to  form  a  continuous  cord.  This  cord  was  then 
used  both  as  warp  and  woof,  and  was  of  the  simplest  and  crudest  kind  of 
weaving,  no  batten  of  any  kind  being  used. 

This  is  an  important  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  Navaho 
blanket,  for  these  western  Denes  are  the  original  stock  of  the  so-called 
Athabascan  tribes  of  our  American  Southwest.  Hence  it  is  reasonable 
to  assume  that  if  they  now  have  a  loom  superior  to  those  of  their  own 
people,  it  was  gained  elsewhere.  As  yet  the  Denes  of  the  West  have 
not  evolved  it.  The  Navahos  were  familiar  with  the  crude  rabbit-skin 
blanket  loom,  for  it  is  still  to  be  found  today  in  active  operation  among 
the  Mohaves,  Pimas,  and  Apaches.  Fig.  3  is  of  a  Mohave  Indian 
wearing  one  of  these  rabbit-skin  blankets,  and  they  are  by  no  means 
uncommon.  This  blanket  and  this  loom,  crude  though  they  were,  pre- 
pared them,  however,  for  the  ready  and  immediate  adoption  of  a  superior 
loom.  Hence,  just  as  they  stole  the  sheep  of  the  Spaniards,  Mexicans, 
and  Pueblo  Indians,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  they  stole  the  loom 
of  the  latter,  and  possibly  compelled  a  captive  of  the  tribe  to  instruct 
them  in  its  more  complex  manipulation. 

This  loom  and  the  varied  processes  of  weaving  are  fully  described  in 
the  chapter  devoted  to  that  purpose. 

Whether  the  Navahos  learned  the  art  from  the  Pueblo  or  not,  it  is 
freely  conceded  that  they  are  by  far  the  better  weavers  of  the  two  today. 
In  quality  of  work  and  excellence  of  design  all  other  aboriginal  weavers 


i  1  ¥  ¥  i  1 


FIG.  9.  ',  ;     ;-; 

Rare  Type  Old  Bayeta  Double  Saddle  Blanket.'  :,,  ? 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 

a^e'^^^^ 
usually  made  for  some  chief  or  person  of  distinction. 


/v  ;;-"V«./ 


ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET-WEAVING  17 

north  of  the  Mexican  line  must  yield  to  them.  And  not  only  is  the  Navaho 
weaver  the  best,  but  she  has  preserved  her  art  freest  from  European  influ- 
ence. The  Navaho  is  the  great  American  conservative.  He  loves  neither 
the  white  man  nor  his  ways.  He  seeks  to  live  his  own  life  on  his  own 
reservation,  unhampered  and  uncontrolled  by  the  white  race.  He  scorns 
nearly  everything  about  the  latter — his  dress,  his  food,  his  houses,  his 
habits,  his  opinions,  his  religion,  his  language  —  and  merely  tolerates  him 
because  he  has  to,  and  for  the  money  he  can  get  out  of  him  for  his  blankets 
and  the  wool  of  his  sheep,  and  for  the  guns  he  does  not  know  how  to  make, 
yet  loves  to  use. 

While  to  those  who  know  the  Navaho  and  Pueblo  Indian  weavers 
it  is  a  commonplace  too  well  known  even  to  repeat,  it  should  not  be  over- 
looked by  the  general  reader  that  in  speaking  of  the  Navaho  as  a  weaver 
it  is  his  womankind  who  do  the  actual  work.  The  Navaho  man  is  seldom 
a  weaver.  Now  and  again  one  is  found  who  is  accomplished  in  the  art, 
but  this  is  a  rare  occurrence.  It  is  the  Navaho  woman  who  chooses  the 
poles  and  sticks  for  the  loom,  who  superintends  the  daily  life  of  the  sheep 
that  provide  the  wool,  who  shears  the  sheep,  washes,  cards,  and  spins 
the  wool,  who  prepares  the  dyes  —  whether  the  almost  forgotten  native 
dyes  or  the  easily  made  anilines  —  who  conceives  the  design,  prepares  the 
warp,  actually  weaves  the  blanket  and  generally  disposes  of  it  to  the 
trader,  or  once  in  a  while  to  the  casual  tourist  who  "happens  along"  at 
the  time  it  is  ready  for  sale. 

With  the  Pueblo  Indian  it  is  generally  the  man  who  weaves,  as  the 
photographs  of  Pueblo  weaving  show.  And  it  is  a  remarkable  evidence 
of  tribal  habit  that  in  one  group  of  Amerinds  the  woman  is  the  weaver, 
while  in  that  of  another,  who  live  in  practically  the  same  region,  the  man 
does  the  work. 

In  the  olden  time  there  were  several  traditions  in  regard  to  weaving. 
One  was  that  it  must  not  be  indulged  in  extravagantly,  overdone,  but 
only  engaged  in  in  moderation.  A  ceremony  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
ill  effects  of  overwork  at  the  loom  was  provided  for  in  a  sacrificial  offer- 
ing to  the  spindle.  The  prayer  of  the  gods  was  recited,  and  a  prayer- 
stick  was  used  made  of  yucca,  precious  stones  (turquoise,  etc.),  bird  and 
turkey  feathers,  tassels  of  grass,  and  pollen. 

Maidens,  before  marriage,  were  also  kept  from  weaving  lest  they 
should  overdo,  but  of  late  years  this  idea  of  overdoing  on  the  part  of 
either  married  woman  or  maiden  has  practically  disappeared. 

The  deterioration  of  the  art  of  weaving  among  the  Pueblos  and  its 
improvement  with  the  Navahos,  is  a  proof  of  the  unconscious  exercise 
of  the  law  of  following  the  line  of  least  resistance  and  of  the  power  of 
native  tastes  and  talents.  It  is  quite  reasonable  to  assume  that  at  the 


1 8  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

time  of  the  Spanish  Conquest  the  Pueblo  weavers  were  by  far  the  more 
accomplished  —  that  is,  assuming  that  the  Navahos  had  already  learned 
the  art.  The  Navahos,  in  common  with  the  Pueblos,  were  basket  and 
pottery  makers.  The  former,  however,  were  nomads,  wandering  to  and 
fro  over  an  area  now  largely  included  in  their  reservation  in  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico.  As  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  this  land  is  arid  though 
not  an  absolute  desert.  The  precipitation  at  an  altitude  varying  from 
5,000  to  7,000  feet  amounts  to  only  14.10  inches  (or  less)  during  the 
year,  and  this  is  generally  confined  to  two  short  seasons  of  moisture 
separated  from  one  another  by  months  of  absolute  drought,  which,  except 
in  specially  favored  localities,  would  destroy  any  of  the  ordinary  field- 
crops. 

Naturally  in  such  a  country  as  this,  material  for  basketry  was  scant, 
and  what  was  found  was  of  a  poor  quality.  This  in  itself  was  a  deterrent 
to  the  art  of  basketry,  and  rendered  the  Navahos  indifferent  towards  it. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Paiutis  of  southern  Nevada  and  Utah,  living  near 
flowing  streams,  where  willows  and  other  basketry  material  abounded, 
all  of  the  finest  quality,  and  the  Havasupais  of  Cataract  or  Havasu 
(Blue  Water)  Canyon  —  living  in  a  region  so  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
willows  that  Lieut.  Frank  H.  Cushing,  who  visited  them  from  Zuni  in 
the  early  eighties,  described  them  as  the  "Nation  of  the  Willows"— 
became  experts  in  the  art  the  materials  of  which  were  so  close  to  their 
hands.  Being  neighbors  to  the  Navahos,  the  latter  were  able  to  trade  with 
them  for  basket-work  and  thus  secure  by  barter  all  they  needed. 

Pottery  is  never  much  in  favor  with  a  nomad  people,  especially  the 
crude,  fragile  pottery  of  the  aborigine.  It  is  hard  to  transport,  and  is  in 
constant  danger  of  being  broken;  hence  the  Navaho  never  cultivated 
to  any  great  extent  the  art  of  pottery,  while  the  sedentary  and  home- 
loving  Pueblos  found  it  a  far  easier  task  to  make  pottery  for  the  pur- 
pose of  storing  water,  corn,  flour,  seeds,  and  other  foods  than  basketry, 
and  the  same  instinct  for  decoration  that  had  led  to  the  beautifying  of 
the  basket  asserted  itself  in  the  heart  of  the  Pueblo  potter,  and  she  began 
to  make  geometrical  designs,  scrolls,  figures,  symbols  of  such  great 
diversity  as  to  be  "the  wonder  of  the  world  of  design,"  whenever  and 
wherever  studied.  Let  those  who  deem  this  statement  exaggerated  secure 
Part  II  of  the  Seventeenth  Report  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  and  see  therein  Dr.  J.  Walter  Fewkes's  reproduc- 
tions of  the  signs,  symbols,  designs,  and  patterns  from  the  pottery  of  the 
ancient  Hopi  ruins  of  Sikyatki  in  northern  Arizona,  some  of  which  are 
given  in  a  later  chapter  of  this  book.  In  these  designs,  and  those  found 
on  the  basketry  of  the  more  progressive  of  the  basket-making  tribes,  it 
is  probable  that  the  Navahos  gained  the  suggestion,  at  least,  of  the 


Hh     Hh     Hh 


FIG.  10. 
Typical  Navaho  Squaw  Dress  of  the  Oldest 

(Collection  of  J.  L.  Hubbell.) 


33] 


ART  OF  NAVAHO  BLANKET-WEAVING  19 

designs  which  they  have  since  incorporated  into  their  blankets,  and  which, 
later,  we  shall  more  fully  consider. 

It  will  be  apparent  therefore  from  the  foregoing  considerations  that 
as  the  Navaho  could  barter  or  trade  for  the  baskets  and  pottery  he 
needed,  and  his  country  and  habits  afforded  him  better  advantages  for  the 
breeding  of  sheep  and  horses  than  his  neighbors,  he  gradually  abandoned 
the  basketry  and  pottery-making  arts  and  devoted  his  attentions  to  sheep 
and  horse-raising,  and  also  to  the  making  of  blankets. 

His  nomad  life  was  eminently  suited  to  lead  him,  naturally,  to  the 
work  of  the  weaver.  With  a  portable  loom  to  weave  the  wool  from  the 
backs  of  the  sheep  into  blankets,  which  were  eagerly  sought  for  in  trade 
by  other  tribes,  it  was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  for  the  Navaho 
woman  to  develop  into  the  great  weaver  she  has  become. 

In  studying  the  development  and  growth  of  the  art,  however,  other 
factors  than  mere  usefulness  —  highly  important  and  fundamental  as 
it  is  —  have  to  be  considered.  Usefulness  was  perfectly  attained  as  soon 
as  the  weave  of  the  blanket  was  made  perfect,  without  any  regard  to 
variety  in  stitch,  color  of  the  material,  variety  in  color,  the  introduction 
of  a  design,  or  the  attaching  of  a  symbolic  meaning  to  the  design.  Whence 
came  these  important  factors  in  the  Navaho's  art  development? 

Even  the  most  barbaric  people  cannot  fail  to  be  sensible,  more  or 
less,  to  the  beauties  Nature  presents  to  them  on  every  hand.  The  love  of 
beauty  primarily  comes  from  contact  with  beautiful  things,  and  as  soon 
as  this  love  is  once  aroused  the  desire  to  produce  its  object  seems  to  be 
almost  an  instinct.  Hence  the  dawn  and  the  development  of  aboriginal 
art.  In  basketry  this  showed  itself  in  the  coloring  of  certain  splints  and 
later  in  the  use  of  designs,  worked  into  the  general  texture  by  means  of 
these  different  colored  splints.  The  Hopi,  near  neighbors  to  the  Navaho, 
in  all  their  villages  made  baskets,  on  the  two  nearest  mesas  using  yucca 
splints  and  on  the  third  mesa  contenting  themselves  with  willows.  They 
became  experts  in  the  use  of  certain  dyes,  and  produced  geometrical 
figures  and  designs  of  symbolic  significance  in  great  variety  in  their  yucca- 
fiber  placques.  At  Oraibi  the  willow  splints  were  colored  and  made  into 
designs  copying  the  masks  of  the  Kachinas,  or  lesser  divinities,  and  the 
Navahos,  with  their  wide  inclusiveness  as  to  the  gods  of  other  peoples, 
trading  for  the  baskets  of  the  Hopi,  introduced  what  they  knew  or  imag- 
ined of  the  ceremonialism  connected  with  the  Hopi  divinities  into  their 
own  ritual,  and  thus  accorded  to  these  baskets  an  honored  place  in  their 
ceremonial  life.  It  can  well  be  seen,  therefore,  that  in  time  the  Navaho 
cared  little  for  his  own  home-made  baskets  but  attached  especial  signifi- 
cance to  the  basketry  of  other  peoples,  especially  that  which  appealed  to 
him  in  the  manner  I  have  suggested. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Early  History  of  the  Navaho  Blanket 

T  HAVE  already  traced  the  broad  and  general  development  of  the  art 
•^  of  weaving  among  the  Navahos  both  before  and  after  the  coming  of 
the  Spaniards.  In  this  chapter  let  me  show  the  condition  of  the  art  when 
the  Americans  first  came  in  contact  with  the  Navahos  up  to  the  time  when 
blanket-weaving  began  to  deteriorate. 

Long  before  the  country  of  the  Navahos  —  New  Mexico  —  came 
under  the  control  of  the  United  States,  stories  were  told,  now  and  again, 
by  that  intrepid  race  of  men,  the  trappers,  who  have  generally  been  the 
forerunners  of  civilization,  of  Indians  who  wove  marvelous  blankets,  and 
—  rarer  even  than  the  stories  —  a  trapper  would  buy  and  bring  home  to 
his  friends  one  of  these  remarkable  specimens  of  aboriginal  weave.  As 
they  somewhat  resembled  the  fine  scrapes  of  the  Mexican  they  were  gen- 
erally termed  Serape-Navahos,  or  Navaho-Serapes,  and  were  regarded  as 
great  curiosities,  and  by  the  informed  as  remarkable  specimens  of  the 
weaver's  art.  But,  as  practically  nothing  was  known  of  the  Indians  who 
wove  them,  nor  of  the  primitive  loom  upon  which  they  were  constructed, 
their  wonderful  qualities  were  insufficiently  appreciated  even  by  those 
who  realized  somewhat  of  their  superlative  workmanship. 

Josiah  Gregg,  in  Commerce  of  the  Prairies  (New  York,  1844),  gives 
one  of  the  earliest  comments  upon  the  Navahos  and  their  blankets,  viz. : 

They  reside  in  the  main  range  of  the  Cordilleras,  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  miles  west  of  Santa  Fe,  on  the  waters  of  the  Rio  Colorado  of  California,  not 
far  from  the  region,  according  to  historians,  from  whence  the  Aztecs  emigrated  to 
Mexico ;  and  there  are  many  reasons  to  suppose  them  direct  descendants  from  the  rem- 
nant, which  remained  in  the  north,  of  this  celebrated  nation  of  antiquity.  Although 
they  live  in  rude  jacales,  somewhat  resembling  the  wigwams  of  the  Pawnees,  yet,  from 
time  immemorial,  they  have  excelled  all  others  in  their  original  manufactures;  and 
as  well  as  the  Moquies  [the  Hopis],  they  are  still  distinguished  for  some  exquisite 
styles  of  cotton  textures,  and  display  considerable  ingenuity  in  embroidering  with 
feathers  the  skins  of  animals,  according  to  their  primitive  practice.  They  now,  also, 
manufacture  a  singular  species  of  blanket,  known  as  the  Sarape-Navaho,  which  is  of 
so  close  and  dense  a  texture  that  it  will  frequently  hold  water  almost  equal  to  hum- 
elastic  cloth.  It  is  therefore  highly  prized  for  protection  against  the  rains.  Some  of 
the  finer  qualities  are  often  sold  among  the  Mexicans  as  high  as  $50  or  $60  each. 

Fig.  4  is  a  blanket  of  this  type.     For  full  description,  see  page  34. 

20 


FIG.  ii. 
Old  Bayeta  Saddle  Blanket. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


[PAGE  34] 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  NAVAHO  BLANKET         21 

When  the  conquest  of  New  Mexico  was  undertaken  the  outside 
world  began  to  hear  further,  and  see  more,  of  these  specimens  of 
aboriginal  handicraft  In  September,  1846,  Major  Emory,  U.S.A.,  sent 
out  on  a  military  reconnoissance,  visited  the  pueblo  of  Santo  Domingo, 
New  Mexico.  He  says: 

We  were  shown  into  his  reverence's  parlor,  tapestried  with  curtains  stamped 
with  the  likenesses  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  up  to  this  time.  The  cush- 
ions were  of  spotless  damask  and  the  couch  covered  with  a  white  Navaho  blanket 
worked  in  richly  colored  flowers. 

I  have  seen  this  very  room  and  the  blanket  to  which  he  refers.  It 
was  not  a  Navaho  blanket,  but  a  ceremonial  blanket  of  Pueblo  Indian 
weave,  made  of  native  cotton,  and  the  "flowers"  were  the  embroidered 
work  in  colors  done  by  hand,  exactly  as  the  Hopis  embroider  their  cere- 
monial blankets  and  kilts  today.  (Fig.  5.) 

A  little  later  in  his  report  Emory  tells  of  meeting  some  Indians  that 
he  took  for  "  Pimos-Apaches."  He  thus  describes  their  spinning  and  the 
loom: 

A  woman  was  seated  on  the  ground  under  the  shade  of  a  cottonwood.  Her  left 
leg  was  tucked  under  her  and  her  foot  turned  sole  upward;  between  her  big  toe  and 
the  next  was  a  spindle  about  eighteen  inches  long,  with  a  single  fly  of  four  or  six 
inches.  Ever  and  anon  she  gave  it  a  twist  in  a  dexterous  manner,  and  at  its  end  was 
drawn  a  coarse  cotton  thread.  This  was  their  spinning  jenny.  Led  on  by  this  primi- 
tive display,  I  asked  for  their  loom  by  pointing  to  the  thread  and  then  to  the  blanket 
girded  about  the  woman's  loins.  A  fellow  stretched  in  the  dust,  sunning  himself, 
rose  leisurely  and  untied  a  bundle  which  I  had  supposed  to  be  a  bow  and  arrow.  This 
little  package,  with  four  stakes  in  the  ground  was  the  loom.  He  stretched  his  cloth 
and  commenced  the  process  of  weaving. 

J.  T.  Hughes,  in  his  story,  Doniphan's  Expedition,  1847,  tnus  te^s  °f 
his  colonel's  reception  and  appreciation  of  several  blankets: 

The  chief  presented  Colonel  Doniphan  with  several  fine  Navaho  blankets,  the 
manufacture  of  which  discovers  great  ingenuity,  having  been  spun  and  woven  without 
the  advantage  of  wheels  or  looms,  by  a  people  living  in  the  open  air,  without  houses 
or  tents.  Of  these  the  colors  are  exceedingly  brilliant,  and  the  designs  and  figures 
in  good  taste.  The  fabric  is  not  only  so  thick  and  compact  as  to  turn  rain,  but  to 
hold  water  as  a  vessel.  They  are  used  by  the  Navahos  as  a  cloak  in  the  day  time, 
and  converted  into  a  pallet  at  night.  Colonel  Doniphan  designs  sending  those  which 
he  brought  home  with  him  to  the  war  department  at  Washington,  as  specimens  of 
Navaho  manufacture. 

Lieut.  J.  H.  Simpson,  in  his  Report  on  the  Navaho  Country,  1852, 
already  takes  it  for  granted  that  his  readers  are  familiar  with  the  Navaho 
blanket,  for  he  says  in  one  place: 


22 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


It  seems  anomalous  to  me  that  a  nation  living  in  such  miserably-constructed  mud 
lodges  should,  at  the  same  time,  be  capable  of  making,  probably,  the  best  blankets  in 
the  world! 

In  1854  Dr.  Letherman  wrote  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  about 
the  Navaho  blanket  as  follows : 

The  spinning  and  weaving  is  done  by  the  women,  and  by  hand.  The  thread  is 
made  entirely  by  hand,  and  is  coarse  and  uneven.  The  blanket  is  woven  by  a  tedious 
and  rude  process,  after  the  manner  of  the  Pueblo  Indians,  and  is  very  coarse,  thick, 
and  heavy,  with  little  nap,  and  cannot  bear  comparison  with  an  American  blanket 
for  warmth  and  comfort.  Many  of  them  are  woven  so  closely  as  to  hold  water; 
but  this  is  of  little  advantage,  for  when  worn  during  a  rain  they  become  saturated  with 
water,  and  are  then  uncomfortably  heavy.  The  colors  are  red,  blue,  black,  and  yel- 
low; black  and  red  being  the  most  common.  The  red  strands  are  obtained  by  unrav- 
elling red  cloth,  black  by  using  the  wool  of  black  sheep,  blue  by  dissolving  indigo 
in  fermented  urine,  and  yellow  is  said  to  be  produced  by  coloring  with  a  particular 
flower.  The  colors  are  woven  in  bands  and  diamonds.  We  have  never  observed  blan- 
kets with  figures  of  a  complicated  pattern.  Occasionally  a  blanket  is  seen  which  is  quite 
handsome,  and  costs  at  the  same  time  the  extravagant  price  of  forty  or  fifty  dollars; 
these,  however,  are  very  scarce,  and  are  generally  made  for  a  special  purpose.  The 
Indians  prefer  an  American  blanket,  as  it  is  lighter  and  much  warmer.  The  article 
manufactured  by  them  is  superior,  because  of  its  thickness,  to  that  made  in  the  United 
States,  for  placing  between  the  bed  and  the  ground  when  bivouacking,  and  this  is  the 
only  use  it  can  be  put  to  in  which  its  superiority  is  shown.  The  manner  of  weaving 
is  peculiar,  and  is,  no  doubt,  original  with  these  people  and  the  neighboring  tribes; 
and,  taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  of  some  dilapidated  buildings  (not  of  Spanish 
structure)  being  found  in  different  portions  of  the  country,  it  has  suggested  the  idea 
that  they  may  once  have  been  what  are  usually  called  "  Pueblo  Indians."  * 

John  Russell  Bartlett,  who  was  connected  with  the  United  States  and 
Mexican  Boundary  Commission,  in  his  Personal  Narrative  of  Explora- 
tions and  Incidents  in  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  1854,  thus  speaks  of  the 
Navaho  and  his  blanket: 

On  one  occasion  our  camp  was  visited  by  a  band  of  Navaho  Indians,  four  hun- 
dred of  whom  were  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  Gila.  This  is  a  formidable,  warlike, 
and  treacherous  tribe  which  descends  from  their  strongholds  in  the  canyons  west  of 
Santa  Fe  and  robs  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico  of  their  cattle  and  sheep.  They 
had  heard  of  our  party,  and  had  taken  advantage  of  the  friendly  manner  in  which 
the  Apaches  came  to  us  to  accompany  them.  With  the  exception  of  a  different  style 
in  their  boots,  and  in  the  manner  of  arranging  their  hair,  their  dress  appeared  the 
same.  Their  bows,  arrows,  and  lances  were  the  same,  and 'the  helmet  shaped  head- 
dress did  not  materially  differ.  The  Navahos  had  a  very  fine  description  of  woolen 
blankets  of  their  own  manufacture,  which  they  used  to  cover  their  bodies  when  it 
was  cold,  as  well  as  for  saddle  cloths.  These  blankets  are  superior  to  any  native 
fabric  I  have  ever  seen ;  in  fact,  they  are  quite  equal  to  the  best  English  blankets,  except 

*  Smithsonian  Report,  1855,  p.  291. 


FIG.  12. 
Rare  Old  Bayeta. 

(In  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.) 


LPAGE    35l 


FIG.  13. 
Rare  Old  Bayeta. 

(In  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.) 


[PAGE  35] 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  NAVAHO  BLANKET         23 

that  they  are  without  any  nap.  I  have  been  told  that  they  spin  and  dye  the  wool, 
which  they  raise  themselves;  though  others  assert  that  the  richer  colors  are  obtained 
by  unravelling  fine  scarlet  blankets  of  English  manufacture,  the  threads  of  which  are 
then  used  in  the  weaving  of  their  own.  Whether  this  is  true  or  not  I  am  unable  to 
say.  At  any  rate,  even  if  true,  this  forms  but  a  very  small  portion  of  the  fabric,  the 
remainder  of  which  is  undoubtedly  spun  and  woven  by  themselves. 

We  had  some  little  bartering  with  these  people,  giving  them  shirts  and  other 
wearing  apparel  for  their  bows  and  arrows  and  caps,  and  some  of  our  party  were  so 
fortunate  as  to  obtain  some  fine  specimens  of  their  blankets.  I  got  a  small  one  of 
inferior  quality,  but  sufficient  to  show  the  style  of  their  manufacture. 

The  "  Boy  Scout,"  William  F.  Drannan,  who  published  in  1908  his 
Thirty-one  Years  on  the  Plains  and  in  the  Mountains,  states  therein  that 
in  1865  he  was  scouting  with  Lieutenant  Jacobson,  of  Fort  Yuma,  in 
southern  Arizona  and  there  saw  an  unusual  Navaho  blanket.  Here  is 
what  he  says,  page  420: 

One  day,  while  I  was  out  on  a  scouting  tour,  I  ran  on  to  a  little  band  of 
Navaho  Indians  on  their  way  to  the  St.  Louis  Mountains  for  a  hunt.  They  had 
some  blankets  with  them  of  their  own  manufacture,  and  being  confident  that  the 
lieutenant  had  never  seen  a  blanket  of  that  kind,  I  induced  them  to  go  with  me  to 
our  quarters  to  show  their  blankets  to  the  lieutenant  and  others  as  well.  I  told 
the  lieutenant  that  he  could  carry  water  in  one  of  those  all  day  and  it  would  not 
leak  through.  He  took  one  of  them,  he  taking  two  corners  and  I  two,  and  the 
third  man  poured  a  bucket  of  water  in  the  center  of  it,  and  we  carried  it  twenty 
rods  and  the  water  did  not  leak  through  it.  The  lieutenant  asked  how  long  it  took 
to  make  one  of  them,  and  the  Indian  said  it  took  about  six  months.  He  bought 
a  blanket  for  five  dollars,  being  about  all  the  silver  dollars  in  the  command.  The 
blanket  had  a  horse  wrorked  in  each  corner,  of  various  colors,  also  a  man  in  the 
center  with  a  spear  in  his  hand.  How  this  could  be  done  was  a  mystery  to  all  of 
us,  as  it  contained  many  colors  and  showed  identically  the  same  on  both  sides. 

In  1854  the  Indian  Commissioner's  Report  contained  the  following 
in  speaking  of  the  Navahos:  "They  are  the  manufacturers  of  a  superb 
quality  of  blankets  that  are  waterproof,  as  well  as  of  coarser  woolens." 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  over  sixty  years  ago  the  Navahos  were 
experts  in  the  art  of  blanket-weaving,  making  an  object  "whose  quality 
and  artistic  execution  excited  the  attention  and  appealed  to  the  esthetic 
tastes  of  cultured  and  educated  men." 

These  are  the  rare  blankets  of  the  olden  days  that  are  so  much  prized 
today  by  museums  and  collectors.  They  are  practically  worth  their 
weight  in  gold.  Charles  F.  Lummis,  in  his  Some  Strange  Corners  of  Our 
Country,  thus  speaks  of  their  rarity  and  value: 

The  very  highest  grade  of  Navaho  blankets  is  now  very  rare.  It  is  a  dozen 
years  since  any  of  them  have  been  made;  the  yarn  blankets  which  are  far  less 
expensive  and  sell  just  as  well  to  the  ignorant  traveler,  have  entirely  supplanted 


24  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

them.  Only  a  few  of  the  precious  old  ones  remain  —  a  few  in  the  hands  of  the 
wealthy  Pueblo  Indians  and  Mexicans  —  and  they  are  almost  priceless.  I  know 
every  such  blanket  in  the  Southwest,  and,  outside  of  one  or  two  private  collections, 
the  specimens  can  be  counted  on  one's  fingers.  The  colors  of  these  choicest  blan- 
kets are  red,  white,  and  blue,  or,  rarely,  just  red  and  white.  In  a  very  few  speci- 
mens there  is  also  a  little  black.  Red  is  very  much  the  prevailing  color,  and  takes 
up  some  four-fifths  of  the  blanket,  the  other  colors  merely  drawing  a  pattern  on 
a  red  ground. 


FIG.  14- 
Portion   of  Center  Panel  of  Fig.   13. 


[PACE  35] 


FIG.  15. 
Fine  Bayeta. 

(In  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.) 


[PAGE    35] 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Bayeta  Blanket  of  the  Navaho 

TN  the  preceding  chapter  practically  all  the  blankets  referred  to  or 
A  described  were  of  a  superior,  indeed  superlatively  superior,  weave, 
and  of  great  commercial  value.  I  have  already  quoted  from  Dr.  Lummis 
where  he  speaks  of  the  rarity  of  these  older  specimens.  Here  are  two 
other  quotations,  the  first  from  his  book  already  referred  to,  and  the 
latter  from  The  Land  of  Sunshine,  for  December,  1896. 

Speaking  of  the  red  groundwork  of  which  so  many  of  these  fine 
blankets  are  mainly  composed,  he  writes: 

This  red  material  is  from  a  fine  Turkish  woolen  cloth  called  balleta.  It  used 
to  be  imported  to  Mexico,  whence  the  Navahos  procured  it  at  first.  Later,  it  was 
sold  at  some  of  the  trading-posts  in  this  territory.  The  fixed  price  of  it  was  $6  a 
pound.  The  Navahos  used  to  ravel  this  cloth  and  use  the  thread  for  their  finest 
blankets;  and  it  made  such  blankets  as  never  have  been  produced  elsewhere.  Their 
durability  is  wonderful.  They  never  fade,  no  matter  how  frequently  washed  — 
an  operation  in  which  amole,  the  saponaceous  root  ot  the  Palmilla,  should  be  sub- 
stituted for  soap.  As  for  wear,  I  have  seen  the  latter  blankets  which  have  been 
used  for  rugs  on  the  floors  of  populous  Mexican  houses  for  fifty  years,  which  still 
retain  their  brilliant  color,  and  show  serious  wear  only  at  their  broken  edges.  And 
they  will  hold  water  as  well  as  canvas  will. 

A  balleta  blanket  like  that  pictured  elsewhere*  is  worth  $200  and  not  a  dozen 
of  them  could  be  bought  at  any  price  today.  It  is  seventy-three  inches  long  by 
fifty-six  inches  wide  and  weighs  six  pounds.  You  can  easily  reckon  that  the  thread 
in  it  cost  something,  at  $6  a  pound,  and  the  weaving  occupied  a  Navaho  woman  for 
many  months.  It  is  hardly  thicker  than  an  ordinary  book  cover,  and  is  almost  as 
firm.  It  is  too  thin  and  stiff  to  be  an  ideal  bed-blanket,  and  it  was  never  meant  to 
be  one.  All  blankets  of  that  quality  were  made  to  be  worn  on  the  shoulders  of 
chiefs;  and  most  of  them  were  ponchos  —  that  is,  they  had  a  small  slit  left  in  the 
center  for  the  wearer  to  put  his  head  through,  so  that  the  blanket  would  hang  upon 
him  like  a  cape.  Thus  it  was  combined  overcoat,  water-proof,  and  adornment.  I 
bought  this  specimen  after  weeks  of  diplomacy,  from  Martin  del  Valle,  the  noble- 
faced  old  Indian  who  had  been  many  times  governor  of  the  cliff-built  "  City "  of 
Acoma.  He  bought  it  twenty  years  ago  from  a  Navaho  war-chief  for  a  lot  of  ponies 
and  turquoise.  He  had  used  it  ever  since,  but  it  was  as  brilliant  and  apparently  as 
strong  as  the  day  it  was  finished. 

These  finest  blankets  are  seldom  used  or  shown  except  on  festal  occasions,  such 
as  councils,  dances,  and  races. 

*  Dr.  Lummis  here  referred  to  a  picture  of  a  fine  bayeta  blanket  which  accompanied  his 
article. 


26  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

The  second  quotation  is  as  follows: 

The  Navaho  Indian  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  cannot  vie  with  the  modern 
Turk  in  rugs  nor  with  the  extinct  Yunca  in  fringes;  but  when  it  comes  to  blankets 
he  can  beat  the  world.  Or  rather,  he  could  —  for  it  is  nearly  a  generation  since 
a  Navaho  blanket  of  strictly  first  class  has  been  created.  Here  is  a  lost  art  —  not 
because  the  Navahos  no  longer  know  how,  but  because  they  will  no  longer  take 
the  trouble.  They  make  thousands  of  blankets  still  —  thick,  coarse,  fuzzy  things, 
which  are  the  best  camping-blankets  to  be  had  anywhere,  and  most  comfortable 
robes.  But  of  the  superb  old  ponchos  and  zarapes  for  chiefs  —  those  iron  fabrics 
woven  from  vayeta  (a  Turkish  cloth  imported  specially  for  them  and  sold  at  $6  a 
pound,  unraveled  by  them,  and  its  thread  reincarnated  in  an  infinitely  better  new 
body),  not  one  has  been  woven  in  twenty  years.  It  is  a  loss  to  the  world;  but  the 
collector  who  began  in  time  can  hardly  be  philanthropic  enough  to  lament  the  dete- 
rioration which  has  made  it  impossible  that  even  the  richest  rival  shall  ever  be  able 
to  match  his  treasures. 

There  are  still  Navahos  (20,000  of  them),  and  there  is  still  vayeta;  and  as 
there  are  people  who  would  give  $500  for  an  absolutely  first-class  vayeta  blanket, 
you  might  fancy  that  the  three  things  would  pool.  But  that  is  to  forget  the 
Navaho.  He  is  a  barbarian,  to  whom  enough  is  an  elegant  sufficiency.  By  weav- 
ing the  cheap  and  wretched  blankets  of  today  —  wretched,  that  is,  as  works  of 
art  —  he  can  get  all  the  money  he  desires.  Why  then  toil  a  twelvemonth  over  a 
blanket  for  $500  (which  is  more  coin  than  he  can  imagine  anyhow)  when  a 
week's  work  will  bring  $5?  You  will  think  the  Navaho  is  a  fool,  who  will  not 
put  out  his  hand  for  money;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  he  knows  you  are 
one  who  burn  your  life  for  it.  And  a  thousand  efforts,  by  the  smartest  business 
men  on  the  frontier,  have  absolutely  failed  to  revive  this  wonderful  old  industry. 
They  have  at  most  succeeded  only  in  getting  some  back-slid  den  ?narueca  *  to  weave 
an  Americanized  blanket  which  no  connoisseur  would  have  in  his  house.f 

When  Dr.  Letherman  described  the  Navahos  as  he  found  them  in 
1854  he  thus  speaks  of  bayeta  or  baize  forming  a  part  of  their  costume: 

Some  wear  short  breeches  of  brownish-colored  buckskin,  or  red  baize,  buttoned 
at  the  knee,  and  leggins  of  the  same  material.  A  small  blanket,  or  a  piece  of  red 
baize,  with  a  hole  in  it,  through  which  the  head  is  thrust,  extends  a  short  distance 
below  the  small  of  the  back,  and  covers  the  abdomen  in  front,  the  sides  being  par- 
tially sewed  together ;  and  a  strip  of  red  cloth  attached  to  the  blanket  or  baize,  where 
it  covers  the  shoulder,  forms  the  sleeve,  the  whole  serving  the  purpose  of  a  coat. 
Over  all  this  is  thrown  a  blanket,  under  and  sometimes  over  which  is  worn  a  belt, 
to  which  are  attached  oval  pieces  of  silver,  plain  or  variously  wrought. 

I  have  given  Dr.  Lummis's  statements  in  full,  together  with  both 
his  methods  of  spelling  bayeta,  not  only  because  of  his  great  knowledge 
upon  the  subject,  but  more  because  of  his  profound  and  deep  interest  in 

*  Navaho  woman. 

1 1  must  apologize  to  Dr.  Lummis  for  quoting  him  as  spelling  the  word  Navaho.  He  is 
as  emphatic  in  demanding  that  it  be  spelt  Navajo  as  I  am  that  it  be  Navaho. 


FIG.  1 6. 
An  Exquisite  Bayeta. 

(Vroman  Collection.) 


[PAGE    35] 


THE  BAYETA  BLANKET  OF  THE  NAVAHO     27 

the  Indians  and  all  concerning  them.  Yet  I  am  inclined  to  question  both 
his  spelling  and  his  information  in  regard  to  bayeta. 

Bayeta  is  simply  the  Spanish  for  baize,  a  kind  of  flannel  with  a  nap 
on  one  side.  Another  authority  than  Dr.  Lummis  asserts  that  it  was 
originally  made  in  Spain,  and  was  sold  in  Mexico  as  Spanish  flannel,  and 
by  the  Mexicans  traded  to  the  Indians. 

Some  twenty-five  years  ago  I  found  it  a  common  article  of  manufac- 
ture in  certain  woolen  mills  in  Yorkshire,  England,  regularly  sold  by 
Manchester  wholesalers  to  the  Spanish,  Turkish,  Mexican,  and  United 
States  trade,  and  by  these  latter  dealers  distributed  to  the  Indian  traders 
of  the  United  States. 

While  in  the  early  days  there  was  little  of  any  color  but  red  used  by 
the  Navahos,  bayeta  was  made  in  as  many  colors  as  there  are  dyes  —  red, 
green,  yellow,  pink,  blue,  orange,  purple,  etc.,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
whatever  but  that  bayeta  blankets  with  English  yarn  of  different  colors 
have  been  made  for  years  by  the  Navahos.  For  I  have  spoken  with  both 
Mexican  and  Indian  traders  who  have  dealt  in  bayeta  of  different  colors 
for  many  years,  though  all  agree  that  the  chief  demand  has  always  been 
for  red. 

The  leading  manufacturers  of  baizes  in  England  today  contend  that 
they  were  never  made  in  Spain,  and  "certainly  never  in  Turkey."  It  is 
generally  believed  that  the  baize  trade  was  originally  introduced  into 
England  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  refugees  from  France  and  the  Neth- 
erlands. It  is  well  known  that  religious  persecutions  almost  destroyed 
the  weaving  industries  of  these  two  countries,  and  that  the  shrewd  and 
awakening  business  sense  of  England  took  advantage  of  the  situation 
by  gladly  offering  hospitality  to  those  whose  very  religious  dogmatism 
and  firmness  made  of  them  the  most  desirable  kind  of  artisan  citizenship. 
For  over  two  hundred  years  one  firm  to  which  I  have  referred  has  dealt 
largely  in  baizes,  and  "  Rossendale  Valley  baizes  "  are  favorably  known 
to  the  trade  throughout  the  world. 

There  is  a  peculiar  kind  of  baize,  bearing  an  extra  long  nap,  or 
face,  with  a  lustrous  and  curly  finish,  which  is  known  to  the  trade  as 
Pellons.  In  Halifax,  Yorkshire,  England,  is  a  lane  known  for  over  three 
hundred  years  as  Pellon  Lane,  thus  clearly  indicating  to  the  local 
antiquarians  that  a  pellon  mill  was  originally  situated  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, which  today  is  largely  occupied  by  the  weaving  industry. 

Traditions  still  exist  in  the  minds  of  the  old  members  of  the  firms 
whose  chief  weaves  are  baizes,  with  whom  I  have  conversed  and  corre- 
sponded, to  the  effect  that  the  woven  pieces  were  shipped  to  Spain  — 
never  direct  to  Mexico  or  South  America  — and  by  the  Spanish  dealers 
distributed  to  their  compatriot  customers  throughout  the  world.  Even 


28  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

now  this  custom  is  largely  followed,  it  being  well  known  that  the  English 
manufacturers  and  shippers  are  conservative  and  averse  to  changing  long- 
established  methods  of  doing  business.  It  would  not  be  "  good  form " 
to  endeavor  to  secure  the  direct  trade  of  the  Mexican  and  South  American 
dealers  who,  for  centuries,  have  been  supplied  with  their  goods  through 
wholesale  houses  in  Spain. 

From  this  fact  that  the  bayetas  and  pellons  were  always  and  only 
secured  through  dealers  in  Spain  undoubtedly  sprang  the  impression  that 
they  were  made  in  that  country. 

Another  thing  also  aided  in  deepening  that  impression,  namely: 
the  names  given  to  the  various  colors  and  shades  in  which  these  baize- 
pellons  were  made.  Even  in  the  English  trade  they  were  and  are  known 
by  the  Spanish  labels,  as,  for  instance:  Morado  Subldo,  strong  violet  or 
purple;  Rosa  Bajo,  dull  rose;  Oro,  gold;  Amarillo  Tostado,  yellow  with 
a  light  brown  tinge;  Grana,  deep  scarlet;  Dragon,  Sajon  Hermosa,  and 
a  score  of  others. 

Pellon-baizes  were  largely  used  in  England  in  my  boy  days  for  mak- 
ing bags  for  carrying  lawyers*  briefs.  England  is  a  rainy  country,  and 
papers  and  documents  that  were  needed  in  court  must  be  carried  back 
and  forth,  despite  the  weather.  It  was  found  that  the  long  curly  nap  of 
the  pellon  threw  off  the  rain  very  effectively,  even  when  the  clerk  had  to 
walk  farther  than  usual.  Hence  when  the  trade  extended  to  Spain  and 
its  North  and  South  American  dependencies  or  colonies,  these  baizes  were 
much  sought  after  for  the  making  of  ponchos  which  would  shed  severe 
rains  and  thus  protect  the  wearer  from  becoming  drenched  by  the  fierce 
showers  that  so  often  descend  unexpectedly  in  tropical  climes.  The  open 
weave,  under  the  long  nap,  also  afforded  abundant  ventilation  —  a  great 
desideratum  in  a  hot  country. 

The  colors  in  which  baizes  and  pellons  were  dyed  prior  to  the  dis- 
covery of  aniline  dyes  were  bright  scarlet  and  varying  shades  to  deep 
maroon,  blues,  yellows,  greens,  etc.  The  reds  were  extracted  from 
cochineal,  Spanish  Cochinilla,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  female 
insect  Coccus  cacti,  found  in  large  numbers  on  various  species  of  cactus 
in  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  other  tropical  countries.  These  insects 
are  gathered  from  the  plant,  killed  by  heat,  and  then  exposed  to  the  sun 
to  dry.  They  then  appear  much  like  small  seeds  or  berries  of  a  brown  or 
purple  color,  so  for  years  were  scientifically  defined  as  the  grain  of  the 
Quercus  coccifera.  The  essential  coloring  matter  is  carminic  acid,  a  pur- 
ple red  amorphous  substance  which  yields  carmine  red.  The  varying 
colors  produced  from  cochineal  depended  entirely  upon  the  mordants 
used. 

A  mordant  is  any  substance,  such  as  alum,  copperas,  urine,  which 


FIG.  17- 
A  Blanket  About  Which  Experts  Differ. 

(Vroman  Collection.) 


[PAGE    3Sl 


THE  BAYETA  BLANKET  OF  THE  NAVAHO     29 

has  a  twofold  attraction.  It  acts  equally  upon  the  organic  fibres  of  wool, 
cotton,  etc.,  and  at  the  same  time  upon  the  minute  particles  of  coloring 
matter,  and  thus  serves  as  a  bond  to  fix  the  dye  in  whatever  substance  the 
dyer  is  seeking  to  color. 

Modern  science  —  even  that  of  a  hundred  or  more  years  ago  —  in 
England,  combined  with  many  years  of  experimentation  with  dyestuffs, 
had  led  English  dyers  to  the  discovery  of  several  excellent  mordants,  and 
to  these  discoveries  and  the  care  shown  in  the  exercise  of  the  dyer's  art 
is  owing  the  superlative  colors  and  their  unfading  qualities  in  the  price- 
less Navaho  bayeta  blankets  of  the  early  days. 

When  the  Navahos  began  to  dye  wool  for  themselves  they  were 
dependent  upon  the  less  experienced  Mexicans  and  Pueblo  Indians  for 
their  knowledge  of  dyes  and  mordants;  hence  their  gamut  of  colors  and 
shades  was  much  limited.  Yet  is  it  not  remarkable  that  in  a  few  years 
they  succeeded  in  making  dyes  equal  to  those  of  the  English? 

Blue  was  made  from  indigo,  which  is  procured  from  woad  and  other 
plants  native  to  Asia,  Africa,  and  America.  This  is  one  of  the  oldest 
dyestuffs  known,  and  was  used  to  color  the  faces  of  the  ancient  Britons, 
Queen  Boadicea  being  said  to  have  stained  her  face  with  woad  after  her 
defeat  and  capture  by  the  Romans.  The  indigo,  however,  does  not  exist 
in  the  plants  as  such.  It  is  obtained  by  the  decomposition  or  fermenta- 
tion of  the  Glucoside  indican.  It  is  a  dark  blue  earthy  substance,  tasteless 
and  odorless,  with  a  coffee-violet  luster  when  rubbed.  It  appears  in  com- 
merce in  dark-blue  cubical  cakes,  varying  very  much  in  the  quality  of  their 
composition,  some  containing  indigo-red  and  indigo-brown,  besides 
moisture,  mineral  matters,  and  glutinous  substances.  Consequently  the 
color  varies,  especially  when  used  as  dye  by  one  who  is  not  an  expert.  This 
accounts  for  the  varying  shades  of  blue  too  often  found  in  the  wools  dyed 
by  the  Navaho,  while  the  older  blankets,  probably  made  from  bayeta 
dyed  blue  by  the  English  experts,  is  as  perfect  and  almost  as  full  of  color 
today  as  when  first  it  came  from  the  dye  pot. 

The  most  popular  of  the  reds  was  originally  called,  even  in  Eng- 
land (and  still  is)  Brazil  baize.  As  late  as  twenty-five  years  ago,  "  Brazil 
sticks  "  could  be  obtained  in  New  Mexico.  This  is  a  very  heavy  wood, 
the  Cesalpinia  sapan,  brought  originally  from  the  Orient,  and  known 
long  before  the  discovery  of  America.  It  has  a  reddish  color  and  dyes 
red  and  yellow.  After  the  discovery  of  America  it  is  said  that  King 
Emanuel,  of  Portugal,  gave  the  name  Brazil  to  the  country  on  the 
Southern  Continent  on  account  of  its  producing  this  wood.  It  is  now 
called  Cesalpinia  Braziliensis,  although  the  best  color  is  produced  from 
the  C.  echinata,  a  leguminous  tree,  the  heart-wood  of  which  is  used  for 
this  purpose.  The  word  brazil  is  supposed  to  come  from  the  Spanish 


30- •        INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

brasa,  a  live  coal,  which  the  color  produced  closely  approximated  in  the 
mind  of  the  poetic  southern  nations. 

Another  red  is  that  produced  from  the  heart  of  the  logwood,  Hema- 
toxylon  campechianum,  another  South  American  wood,  which  contains 
a  crystalline  substance  called  hematoxylon  or  hematein.  When  pure  this 
forms  nearly  colorless  crystals,  but  on  oxidization,  especially  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  alkali,  it  is  converted  into  the  coloring  matter  which  is  the  base 
for  lakes,  yielding  violets,  blues,  and  blacks,  according  to  the  mordant 
used.  Logwood  comes  into  the  commerce  of  today  in  the  form  of  logs, 
chips,  and  extracts.  When  the  chips  are  used  they  are  moistened  with 
water  and  exposed  in  heaps  so  as  to  promote  oxidization  or  fermentation, 
alkalies,  etc.,  being  generally  added  to  hasten  the  process,  or  "  curing," 
as  it  is  often  called.  The  resultant  decoction  is  a  deep  reddish-brown 
color. 

The  older  dyers  of  Chimayo  still  call  for  "  Brazil  sticks  "  when  asked 
to  dye  wool  for  a  "native  color"  blanket,  though  the  article  has  gener- 
ally dropped  out  of  every-day  commerce  since  the  introduction  of  the 
aniline  dyes. 

Fustic  was  the  heartwood  of  certain  West  Indian  trees,  Madura 
tinctoria,  giving  a  rich  lemon  yellow.  Sometimes  the  Spanish  termed  it 
fustoc.  Young  fustic  is  the  heartwood  of  a  native  sumac  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, Rhus  cotinus,  which  yields  an  orange-colored  lake. 

These  were  the  principal  colors  used  by  the  English  in  their  dyeing 
of  bayetas  and  pellons  in  the  early  days,  and  even  now  used  occasionally 
for  rare  and  special  orders.  But  since  the  great  chemical  discoveries  of 
Perkin  in  1856,  Verguin  in  1895,  and  others,  the  aniline  dyes  have  largely 
taken  possession  of  the  field. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  the  curious  reader  to  note  that  the  word 
"aniline"  is  made  from  annil,  the  Arabic,  which  was  the  original  name 
for  a  West  Indian  plant  from  which  indigo  was  first  made.  It  goes  back 
even  to  the  Sanskrit,  nila,  a  dark  blue,  and  nili,  the  indigo  plant  itself. 

In  the  bayetas  of  modern  make,  samples  of  which  I  have  before  me 
as  I  write,  there  are  all  the  original  colors  such  as  the  reds,  crimsons, 
maroons,  black,  blues,  and  greens;  and,  in  addition,  magentas,  pinks, 
oranges,  lemon-yellows,  etc.  Yet  all  of  these  are  made  from  aniline 
dyes. 

Hence  an  important  question  arises  in  dealing  with  the  subject  of 
bayeta  blankets.  It  must  be  self-evident  to  the  most  casual  of  readers 
that,  given  the  bayeta,  and  the  Indian  willing  to  unravel  the  yarn  as  was 
done  continuously  in  the  old  days,  bayeta  blankets  of  modern  dye  may  be 
made  today. 

Are  such  blankets  made? 


FIG.  1 8. 
A    Flannel    Blanket. 

(Vroman   Collection.) 


[PAGE  36] 


in^ 


FIG.  19. 
The    "Playing    Card"    Blanket. 

(Collection  of  P.   G.    Gates.) 


[PAGE  36.] 


THE  BAYETA  BLANKET  OF  THE  NAVAHO  31 

I  think  I  can  affirm  most  positively  that  there  has  not  been  such  a 
blanket  made  for  several  decades.  There  is  not  an  Indian  trader  or  a 
dealer  in  the  whole  Southwest  who  keeps  bayeta  of  any  color  in  stock. 
There  is  no  call  for  it.  But  even  if  there  were,  and  the  Indian  could  be 
found  to  unravel  and  use  it,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  for  any  chemist 
to  determine  immediately,  and  with  positiveness,  whether  the  dye  used 
were  aniline,  or  one  of  the  old  vegetable  dyes. 

It  may  then  be  relied  upon  that  the  few  blankets  offered  for  sale 
as  old  bayeta  blankets,  are  exactly  what  they  profess  to  be.  Yet  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  question  often  asked  by  collectors:  Is  there  any  way  of 
definitely,  positively,  certainly,  stating  what  is  and  what  is  not  a  bayeta 
blanket?  One  of  the  greatest  experts  in  New  Mexico  asserts  that  the  only 
test  is  this:  If  a  thread  of  a  blanket  is  pulled  to  pieces  and  it  shows  a 
single  strand,  then  it  is  bayeta.  If  twisted  and  consisting  of  three  strands, 
it  is  Germantown  yarn. 

He  seemed  to  overlook  the  fact,  however,  that  now  and  again  —  not 
often  it  must  be  confessed  —  a  Navaho  weaver  would  take  a  fine  thread 
of  bayeta,  and,  being  desirous  of  making  a  thicker  and  heavier  blanket 
than  the  fine  thread  would  allow,  twisted  two  or  three  of  them  together, 
thus  giving  us  a  two  or  three-ply  yarn  of  bayeta. 

Another  expert  takes  a  piece  of  the  yarn  to  be  tested,  sets  fire  to  it  and 
watches  the  results.  If  something  occurs  it  is  bayeta,  if  it  doesn't  it  is 
something  else. 

Still  another  expert  insists  that  the  only  way  to  determine  whether 
a  blanket  is  of  bayeta  is  by  the  feel  of  the  strand.  If  it  is  silky  and 
yet  hard  and  with  a  fuzzy  or  rough  feel  it  is  bayeta,  while  Germantown 
has  a  woolly  and  soft  rather  than  a  silky,  hard,  and  rough  feel. 

Yet  another  determines  bayeta  by  microscopic  examination.  Bayeta 
being  made  by  machinery,  he  contends  that  it  must  be  smooth  and  even 
in  spinning,  whereas  all  hand-made  yarn  is  uneven  and  irregular.  This 
seems  to  be  conclusive,  yet  when  I  called  his  attention  to  these  two  facts, 
viz.,  that  much  bayeta  is  retwisted  by  the  Navahos  by  hand,  and,  second, 
that  Germantown  yarn  is  made  by  machinery,  and  must  therefore  present 
the  same  evenness  and  regularity  of  spinning  displayed  by  bayeta,  he 
confessed  that  the  difficulty  still  remained.  For,  while  it  may  successfully 
reveal  the  difference  between  a  native-spun  and  a  machine-spun  yarn, 
that  difference  does  not  always  exist  between  the  two  machine-spun  yarns 
of  Germantown  and  bayeta. 

To  my  own  mind  these  discussions  are  more  academic  than  profitable. 
Chemical  analysis  can  speedily  determine  whether  the  dye  used  in  the 
yarn  of  a  blanket  be  vegetal  or  aniline.  But  even  this  is  not  necessary. 
While  it  might  be  hard  to  convince  another,  who  was  not  as  familiar  with 


32  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  various  makes  of  Navaho  blankets,  the  expert  can  tell  almost  to  a 
certainty  with  his  eyes  shut  which  is  an  old  bayeta  and  which  is  not.  There 
is  a  feel  that  reveals  the  old  weave,  and  when  to  this  is  added  the  ocular 
demonstration  of  age  and  color,  the  old  vegetal  colors  of  the  ancient 
bayetas' toning  down  to  the  richest  shades  of  color  harmonies,  one  can  rest 
confidently  in  the  judgment  of  an  expert  that  he  is  viewing  an  old  bayeta. 

Of  this  character  are  the  following  blankets  from  three  well-known 
collections  —  those  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  of  Fred 
Harvey,  of  Albuquerque,  and  A.  C.  Vroman,  Pasadena,  with  added 
specimens  that  have  been  in  my  own  possession  for  many  years. 

Fig.  6  is  one  of  the  earliest  types  of  Honal-Kladi,  referred  to  later 
in  connection  with  Fig.  7.  Long  before  any  geometrical  or  other  design 
was  introduced  into  the  blanket,  the  attempt  to  beautify  these  chiefs'  robes 
was  made  by  varying  the  width  of  the  panels,  changing  their  colors,  and 
introducing  bands  of  color  across  a  portion  of  each  panel.  The  effect, 
though  simple,  was  pleasing,  and  made,  as  many  of  these  blankets  are,  of 
the  finest  material,  and  woven  with  consummate  skill,  they  are  even  more 
highly  prized  by  collectors  than  later  specimens  of  more  elaborate  design. 

Fig.  7  is  an  exquisitely  beautiful  blanket  of  soft  delicate  tones, 
although  the  elaborate  bands  of  black  and  white  give  it  a  striking  char- 
acter. The  red  of  the  bayeta,  which  forms  the  body  color  of  the  center 
design  and  the  outer  border,  is  toned  down  to  a  delicate  rose  tint  which 
harmonizes  in  exquisite  effect  with  the  blue  and  black  stripes  introduced 
therein.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  blanket  is  woven  crosswise  instead 
of  lengthwise.  Blankets  of  this  character  are  spoken  of  as  "  Chief's 
Blankets,"  or  by  the  Navahos  are  called  Honal-Kladi,  or  Honal-Chodi. 
The  peculiar  design  for  this  weave  is  undoubtedly  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  Navaho  chief  or  leading  men  of  the  tribe  desired  to  have  their  blankets 
of  a  different  type  from  those  worn  by  the  ordinary  men  of  the  tribe. 
Blankets  of  this  character  are  wrapped  around  the  body  broadside,  which 
shows  off  the  stripes  to  better  advantage  than  if  they  had  been  woven  in 
the  other  direction,  as  then  the  stripes  would  run  up  and  down  and  be 
displeasing  to  the  eye.  This  type  of  blanket  is  undoubtedly  from  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  years  old,  and  when  made  of  old  bayeta  and 
native-dyed  and  woven  yarn  is  exceedingly  scarce  and  valuable. 

This  is  one  of  the  choicest  old  bayeta  blankets  of  the  Fred  Harvey 
collection. 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  there  is  such  a  demand  for  blankets 
of  this  type  that  some  of  the  traders  keep  one  or  more  of  their  best 
weavers  continually  at  work  making  them.  They  are  not  quite  as  closely 
woven  as  the  old  ones,  but  after  they  have  had  twenty-five  years  or  so  of 
rough  usage  on  the  floor  of  a  living  room,  or  as  couch-covers,  or  in  any 


FIG.  20 (a). 
Bayeta  Blanket. 

(Matthews  Collection.) 
FlG.   21  (b). 

Red  Flannel  Blanket. 

(Matthews  Collection.) 


[PAGE    36] 


THE  BAYETA  BLANKET  OF  THE  NAVAHO     33 

place  where  there  are  a  number  of  children,  they  begin  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  appearance  of  age,  and  then  they  increase  in  value.  It  is 
a  singular  fact  that  the  longer  they  are  used  and  the  more  roughly  they 
are  treated,  the  more  pleasing  they  become  to  the  eye. 

Another  fine  chief's  blanket  is  in  the  Vroman  collection,  shown  in 
Fig.  8.  The  body  bands  are  white  and  black,  with  the  center  band  com- 
posed of  red,  blue,  and  black  narrower  stripes.  In  the  center  of  this  band 
is  the  blunt-pointed  diamond  figure,  with  the  half  of  a  similar  figure  at 
each  end.  The  upper  and  lower  edge  of  the  blanket  has  the  same  nar- 
rower bands  of  red,  blue,  and  black  as  the  center  band.  This  blanket  is  a 
fine  old  specimen,  and  its  size  is  forty-seven  by  sixty-eight  inches. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  pleasing  of  the  small  blankets  of  the  Fred 
Harvey  collection  at  Albuquerque  is  the  old  bayeta  blanket,  reproduced 
in  Fig.  9.  In  all  my  experiences  among  the  Navahos  I  have  seen  very 
few  blankets  of  this  type,  one  of  them  being  in  my  own  collection  and 
illustrated  elsewhere.  The  red  of  the  bayeta  has  toned  down  to  a  soft 
delicate  rose  madder,  while  the  blue  of  the  zigzags  and  the  smaller  figures 
of  the  designs  are  as  rich  and  as  deep  undoubtedly  as  the  day  the  yarn 
came  from  the  dyeing  vessel.  The  blue  of  the  border  stripes  has  softened 
down  wonderfully  until  it  is  almost  steel-like  in  appearance;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  white  has  taken  a  tone  until  it  is  a  delicate  cream,  and  where 
this  white  has  been  interwoven,  as  it  is  in  a  number  of  the  stripes  and  in 
some  of  the  small  figures  of  the  design  with  the  red  bayeta,  a  most  pleas- 
ing effect  is  produced. 

This  blanket  is  undoubtedly  of  the  very  earliest  type  and  will  go 
back  fully  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  years,  and  although  it 
has  seen  exceedingly  rough  usage,  as  all  saddle  blankets  are  subject  to, 
it  is  almost  as  perfect  today  as  when  it  left  the  hands  of  the  original 
weaver. 

Fig.  10  is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  Navaho  squaw  dress,  although  only 
half  of  it  is  here  presented.  Generally  these  squaw  dresses  were  woven 
in  two  halves,  which  were  sewed  together  and  then  worn  as  shown  in  vari- 
ous pictures  throughout  the  book  in  which  Navaho  women  are  represented. 
The  body  part  of  this  is  of  black  wool,  very  closely  woven,  the  two  ends 
being  of  red  bayeta,  with  the  design  in  very  deep  blue  with  small  stripes  of 
old-gold-green  in  the  geometrical  figures.  This  little  tip  of  green  mate- 
rially enhances  the  beauty  of  the  blanket,  and  age  has  improved  it  with- 
out the  slightest  marring  of  the  rich  perfect  color  of  the  bayeta.  This  is  a 
blanket  of  the  type  that  would  undoubtedly  hold  water.  The  battening 
down  has  been  done  so  thoroughly  by  the  weaver  that  it  is  almost  impossi- 
ble to  open  a  stitch  of  the  weft  to  reveal  the  strands  of  the  warp. 

Blankets  of  this  type  are  highly  prized  by  the  collector  and  are  now 


34  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

never  made.  They  therefore  are  seldom  found  or  offered  for  sale  at 
any  price. 

A  beautiful  specimen  of  an  old  bayeta  saddle  blanket  is  that  shown 
in  Fig.  1 1  from  my  own  collection.  The  red  is  fairly  harmonious  through- 
out and  has  retained  much  of  its  original  brilliancy,  as  have  also  the  blue 
and  old-gold-green  of  the  design.  It  is  thirty  and  a  half  by  forty-two  and 
a  half  inches  in  size,  and  its  weight  is  nearly  two  pounds.  It  has  no  other 
colors  than  red,  blue,  and  green,  though  there  are  a  few  touches  and  out- 
lines in  white.  The  groundwork  is  red,  while  the  zigzag  of  the  larger 
design  is  in  old-gold-green  and  blue,  the  former  being  outside.  The  inner 
designs  alternate  between  green  and  blue,  while  some  of  them  contain 
both  colors  with  touches  of  white. 

The  brilliancy  of  the  color  of  the  blanket  as  a  whole  has  deceived 
several  into  believing  it  was  not  an  old  bayeta,  yet  on  careful  examination 
there  can  be  no  question  of  its  age.  Fortunately,  I  know  its  history.  It 
was  purchased  by  an  army  officer  who  was  in  the  Navaho  country  in  the 
early  fifties;  hence  it  could  not  possibly  be  any  other  than  an  old  bayeta, 
or  a  native-dyed,  native-wool  blanket,  and  the  Navahos  never  made  so 
brilliant  a  red  with  any  of  the  dyes  they  were  then  accustomed  to  use. 

Of  greater  age  still,  though  entirely  different  in  appearance,  is  Fig.  4. 
It  is  thirty  by  forty-eight  inches  in  size,  and  the  only  colors  are  red  and 
blue,  with  considerable  of  the  design  (about  one-fourth)  in  white.  The 
red  has  toned  down  to  a  soft  and  delightful  shade  of  plum  red,  that  is 
alluring  and  restful  to  the  eye.  It  is  of  much  finer  weave,  though  of  sim- 
pler design  than  Fig.  n.  I  secured  it  in  the  following  unromantic  way: 
On  one  of  my  exploring  trips  in  New  Mexico  I  came  to  an  old  Mexican 
jacal.  It  was  getting  late  at  night,  raining  and  cold.  My  horses  were 
anxious  to  stop  and  so  was  I,  so  I  asked  permission  to  bring  my  blankets 
into  the  rude  hut,  and  place  my  horses  in  the  scant  shelter  of  the  corral. 
I  slept  on  the  floor,  cooked  my  frugal  breakfast  in  the  morning,  which  I 
prevailed  upon  my  host  and  hostess  to  share  with  me,  and  then  went  out 
into  the  wet  and  filthy  corral  to  harness  up.  Here,  kicking  about  in  the 
dirt,  and  thick  with  the  accumulated  muck  of  the  corral,  superposed  upon 
the  horse-sweat  of  many  long  rides,  was  something  that  at  first  I  took  for 
a  gunny  sack.  Preferring  its  dirt  to  axle-grease,  I  picked  it  up  to  take 
hold  of  the  wagon-nut  as  I  greased  the  axle  of  my  buggy.  To  my  surprise 
I  found  it  to  be  a  saddle-blanket.  With  the  instinct  of  the  collector  always 
alert,  I  asked  the  old  man  if  he  would  let  me  have  it,  and  for  how  much. 
He  laughed  at  my  paying  him  anything  for  it;  said  he  had  used  it  as  a 
saddle-blanket  ever  since  he  had  been  married;  that  it  was  worthless, 
and  that,  if  I  insisted  upon  paying  for  it,  fifty  cents  would  be  far  more 
than  it  was  worth.  I  threw  it  into  the  conveyance  and  forgot  all  about 


FIG.  22. 
Old  Style  Native  Blanket. 


[PAGE  37] 


FIG.  23. 
Old   Style   Native  Wool  Blanket. 

(In  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.) 


[PAGE   37] 


THE  BAYETA  BLANKET  OF  THE  NAVAHO     35 

it,  packing  it  up  and  sending  it  home  with  other  "trash"  as  early  as 
possible.  Some  weeks  after,  when  I  returned  home,  I  soaked  it  in  strong 
amole-suds  for  days,  possibly  two  or  three  weeks,  scrubbing,  working,  and 
rinsing  it  again  and  again.  Slowly  there  emerged  from  the  filthy  water 
this  blanket,  and  after  a  score  or  more  of  "cleanings,"  and  a  final  rinse 
and  hanging  on  the  line  to  dry,  my  delight  can  be  imagined  when  this 
exquisite  specimen  of  the  art  came  into  full  view.  It  has  been  badly  abused, 
but  is  still  in  fair  condition,  and  is  a  joy  to  all  connoisseurs.  When  I 
realized  its  value,  and  saw  my  old  Mexican  friend  again,  I  tried  to  give 
him  further  compensation,  but,  though  poor,  he  was  proud,  and  anyway, 
"had  I  not  already  paid  him  for  it?"  It  required  some  diplomacy  and 
tact  to  get  him  to  accept  even  a  parting  present,  but  this  was  essential 
for  the  peace  of  my  own  mind.  From  what  he  and  his  wife  said  of  it  I 
can  well  believe  that  this  must  have  been  fully  one  hundred  and  fifty  to 
two  hundred  years  old.  Its  weight  is  nearly  two  pounds,  and  several  times 
I  have  been  offered  in  the  neighborhood  of  three  hundred  dollars  for  it. 

Fig.  12  is  of  a  rare  old  bayeta,  with  body  of  red,  with  the  design 
in  white  and  old-gold-green.  This  is  one  of  a  collection  of  twenty-two  of 
the  finest  bayetas  procurable,  sold  by  A.  C.  Vroman,  of  Pasadena,  Cali- 
fornia, to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  and  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History  in  New  York.  These  were  equally  divided  and  there 
are  eleven  of  them  in  each  museum,  Fig.  12  being  in  the  latter. 

Fig.  13  is  of  another  bayeta  of  the  Vroman  collection.  The  main 
body  of  the  blanket  is  in  the  shade  known  as  old  rose.  The  steps  of  the 
border  are  in  white  and  black  and  the  color  effect  is  exquisite.  Mr.  Vro- 
man regarded  this  as  the  finest  blanket  he  was  ever  able  to  secure,  and 
on  one  occasion  he  refused  an  offer  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  it.  It  is 
now  hanging  over  the  door  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  in  New  York. 

Fig.  14  is  a  portion  of  the  center  panel  of  Fig.  13,  clearly  showing 
the  perfection  of  the  weave. 

Another  of  the  Vroman  bayetas,  now  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
is  Fig.  15.  The  body  of  this  blanket  is  in  soft  rose  red,  the  center  of  the 
diamond  in  the  center  panel,  however,  being  of  a  rich  bright  red.  The 
other  colors  of  the  diamond  are  red  and  old-gold-green.  The  waving 
lines  at  top  and  bottom  are  in  white,  with  blue  and  green,  while  the  two 
inner  waving  lines  are  of  blue  and  green  without  the  white. 

Fig.  1 6  is  of  an  exquisite  and  delicate  bayeta,  the  property  of  Mr. 
Vroman.  It  is  mainly  of  white,  with  stripes  and  connected-diamonds  in 
red  and  deep  blue,  with  a  little  rich  old-gold-green  here  and  there. 

Fig.  17  is  of  a  blanket  in  the  Vroman  collection  about  which  experts 
differ.  Some  term  it  a  bayeta  and  others  say  the  body  is  made  from  red 
flannel,  unraveled  and  rewoven  without  being  respun.  Red  flannel  and 


3 6  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

red  baize  are  merely  two  brands  of  the  same  thing,  though  of  different 
qualities.  Had  the  weave  been  finer  and  the  yarn  tighter  this  would  have 
been  bayeta.  As  it  is,  it  is  doubtless  correct  to  call  it  flannel.  The  design 
is  in  dark  blue  and  green,  though  in  the  zigzags  in  the  center  of  each 
diamond  a  little  yellow  is  introduced.  The  blanket  is  of  good  size,  fifty- 
four  by  seventy-eight  inches. 

Another  blanket  of  the  same  general  characteristics  is  shown  in 
Fig.  1 8.  This  is  of  the  same  "flannelly"  texture,  the  main  body  being 
in  red,  with  the  waving-stepped-lines  in  black  and  white. 

A  blanket  that  has  become  world-famous  in  a  rather  remarkable 
way  is  that  pictured  in  Fig.  19.  Some  years  ago  Mr.  Vroman  desired 
to  present  a  novel  set  of  playing-cards  to  the  world.  On  the  corner  of 
each  card  he  had  a  beautiful  engraving  of  a  western  scene,  and  all  the 
backs  were  adorned  with  a  reproduction,  in  colors,  of  this  design.  It  is  a 
small  but  very  fine  bayeta,  the  body  in  red,  and  it  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Vroman  in  New  Mexico,  at  the  little  Mexican  hamlet  of  San  Rafael.  It 
is  now  in  the  P.  G.  Gates  collection. 

Fig.  20  is  of  a  bayeta  blanket  in  the  Matthews  collection.*  It  is 
of  the  type  designated  by  Father  Berard,  as  honalchodi,  and  commonly 
referred  to  in  the  trade  as  a  Chiefs  blanket.  Elsewhere  I  have  explained 
why  these  were  woven  broad  size  instead  of  long  side  on.  The  design 
of  this  blanket  is  antique  and  it  is  made  entirely  of  native  dyed  wool  and 
bayeta.  It  is  six  feet  six  inches  by  five  feet  three  inches  in  size,  and  its 
colors  are  black,  white,  dark  blue,  and  the  red  of  the  bayeta,  and — in  a 
portion  of  the  stair-like  figures  —  a  pale  blue. 

Fig.  21  is  of  another  Matthews  blanket  of  a  tufted  character,  uof  a 
kind  not  common,"  he  says,  "  having  much  the  appearance  of  an  Oriental 
rug";  it  is  made  of  shredded  red  flannel,  with  a  few  simple  figures  in  yel- 
low, dark  blue,  and  green. 

*  This  collection  was  made  by  Dr.  Washington  Matthews  while  he  was  stationed  in  New 
Mexico.  His  authoritative  works  on  the  Navaho  are  largely  quoted  from  elsewhere  in  these 
pages. 


FIG.  24. 

Double  Saddle  Blanket  of  Soft  Weave,  Native  CotorV 
and  Native  Wool. 

(Author's  Collection.)  [PAGE  37] 


CHAPTER  V 

Old  Style  Native  Wool  Blankets 

VX7*HILE  in  the  main  all  I  shall  say  in  a  following  chapter  on  the  tem- 
porary deterioration  of  the  art  of  weaving  among  the  Navahos  is 
correct,  there  were  a  few  stalwart  weavers  who  refused  to  lower  their 
standard  and  who  continued  to  do  excellent  work.  It  was  from  these 
weavers  that  the  later  bayeta,  and  the  best  of  the  earlier  Germantown 
blankets  came.  At  the  same  time  a  few  of  them  began  the  weaving  of  a 
less  closely  spun  yarn  into  a  softer,  and  more  clinging  type  of  blanket, 
that  was  better  adapted  for  use  as  a  personal  wrap  or  sleeping  blanket 
than  were  the  tightly  spun,  tightly  woven  fabrics. 

From  this  date,  or  epoch,  there  comes  to  us,  therefore,  a  rarely 
found  soft,  yielding,  pliable  blanket,  of  native  wool  and  generally  of 
native  dyes,  now  and  again  mixed  with  a  little  soft  woven  Germantown 
yarn,  and  occasionally  with  an  admixture  of  native  yarn,  dyed  with  aniline 
dyes,  but  all  choice,  beautiful,  artistic,  and  highly  desirable  specimens. 

Among  the  earliest  of  this  class  that  I  was  able  to  secure  is  Fig. 
22.  I  bought  it  some  twenty-two  years  ago  from  an  old  man  in  New 
Mexico.  It  was  in  a  somewhat  dilapidated  condition,  and  the  owner  said 
he  had  possessed  it  over  sixty  years.  Consequently  it  is  of  native  dye,  wool 
warp,  and  native  wool  throughout. 

Fig.  23  is  of  similar  type,  though  far  more  ornate  and  beautiful  in 
design  and  of  much  finer  texture  and  weave.  It  is  in  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York. 

Another  rare  and  beautiful  specimen  —  indeed  in  color  scheme  it  is 
one  of  the  most  charming  blankets  I  have  ever  seen  —  is  of  double  saddle- 
blanket  size,  which  I  secured  several  years  ago,  shown  in  Fig.  24.  The 
main  body  is  red,  with  stepped  diamond  designs  of  which  the  outer  lines 
are  black  and  the  inner  ones  a  peculiar  yellow.  The  bars  are  in  grays 
of  several  shades,  with  a  pale  violet,  doubtless  secured  from  berry  juice. 
The  whole  piece  has  toned  down  to  a  restful  and  attractive  softness,  and 
it  is  much  admired  by  all  who  see  it. 

One  of  the  best  blankets  of  this  type  I  think  I  have  ever  seen  is 
Fig.  25.  This  I  purchased  over  twenty  years  ago  on  the  reservation, 
and  it  was  an  old  blanket  then.  It  is  of  ordinary  double  saddle-blanket 
size,  the  body  in  red,  while  the  lighter  stripes,  as  shown  in  the  engraving, 
are  of  a  faded  pink,  or  old  rose,  the  dividing  lines  being  in  light  green 

37 


3  8  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

and  orange.  The  serrated  diamonds  are  in  red  with  the  lines  in  old- 
gold-green  and  deep  blue.  The  waving  lines  are  in  orange  and  green. 
The  blanket  weighs  a  little  over  two  pounds  and  is  a  much-treasured  speci- 
men of  a  kind  now  very  seldom  seen,  except  in  the  collections  of  museums 
or  connoisseurs. 

Two  other  choice  blankets  in  my  own  collection,  made  about  this 
time  are  worthy  of  especial  note.  Fig.  26  is  a  beautiful,  soft  piece 
of  weaving,  six  feet  six  inches  by  four  feet  six  inches  in  size,  the  body  of 
dark  gray,  the  eight  hourglass  designs  in  black  and  red,  and  the  serrated 
waves  in  white  and  black,  outlined  in  red.  The  step  designs  at  each  end 
are  in  red  and  white.  The  dark  gray  of  the  major  portion  of  the  blanket 
makes  a  remarkably  pleasing  background  and  there  is  enough  of  color 
and  design  to  lighten  it  up.  The  weave  is  rather  coarse  and  not  too 
tightly  battened  down,  hence  the  blanket  is  one  that  can  be  used  as  a 
traveling  rug  or  a  bed  cover  with  advantage.  It  has  been  in  constant 
use  as  a  lounge  cover  for  several  years. 

Another  blanket  of  similar  soft  quality  and  adaptability  for  real  use 
as  a  blanket  is  Fig.  27.  The  color  scheme,  however,  is  entirely  differ- 
ent. It  is  the  same  width,  but  about  six  inches  shorter.  The  body  is 
in  white,  with  design  in  red  and  a  pale  green,  so  pale  indeed,  that  it  can 
only  be  called  a  shade  or  tone  rather  than  a  color. 

A  soft  beautiful  blanket  is  shown  in  Fig.  28.  This  is  coarsely  and 
loosely  woven,  but  it  has  extra  strong  wool  warp,  and  has  a  body  of 
white.  The  stripe-colors  are  black  and  deep  blue,  red  and  old-gold-green, 
while  the  Greek  key  design  is  in  red,  with  a  filler  of  white  and  a  light 
shade  of  brown.  All  the  colors  seem  to  be  native  dye,  but  the  blanket 
has  been  washed  several  times,  and  from  the  Greek  key  of  the  upper  and 
lower  border,  which  is  of  a  deeper  red  than  elsewhere  in  the  blanket,  the 
color  has  "run"  somewhat  and  slightly  stained  the  surrounding  white. 
Nowhere  else  has  the  color  run,  hence  the  assumption  either  that  the 
wool  for  this  red  was  colored  with  aniline  dye,  or  a  strong  native  red 
was  used  with  insufficient,  or  not  strong  enough,  mordant  to  hold  the  color. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  design  is  irregular,  and  the  measure- 
ments of  the  upper  and  lower  thirds  of  the  blanket  materially  differ,  yet, 
in  spite  of  these  facts,  I  have  always  been  very  appreciative  of  it,  and 
for  years  have  used  it  over  the  foot  of  my  own  bed.  It  makes  an  excel- 
lent traveling  blanket,  or  steamboat  rug. 

In  this  type,  as  in  all  other  Navaho  types,  the  constant  surprise  of  the 
careful  observer  is  the  great  variety  of  color  and  design.  Every  collection 
is  sure  to  contain  specimens  utterly  unlike  those  gathered  by  other  col- 
lectors of  many  years'  experience,  and  the  variety  is  the  ever-increasing 
wonder  of  the  student. 


FIG.  25. 
A  Good  Specimen  of  an  Old  Style  Native 

(Author's  Collection.) 


CHAPTER  VI 

Navaho  and  Pueblo  Squaw  Dresses 

T  T  IS  natural  to  assume  that  the  earliest  products  of  the  Navaho  woman's 
x  loom  were  used  for  the  clothing  of  herself  and  her  children espe- 
cially the  girls,  who  were  more  often  left  to  her  care,  while  the  boys 
would  go  off  hunting  with  the  father. 

The  first  squaw  dresses  that  were  woven  were  undoubtedly  of  the 
native  wool  of  the  sheep,  undyed,  hence  must  have  been  either  white, 
black,  brown,  or  gray.  Tradition  bears  out  this  statement.  The  Pueblo 
Indians  had  been  weaving  their  blankets  for  centuries,  doubtless,  from 
cotton,  and  still  continued  to  do  so,  though  they  also  introduced  wool  as 
soon  as  the  Spaniards  taught  them  its  value.  Hence  it  is  quite  possible 
that,  for  a  time  at  least,  the  Pueblo  and  Navaho  squaw  dresses  were 
somewhat  similar  in  color  and  weave. 

Then  some  one  introduced  variations  of  color  in  their  most  simple 
form,  viz.,  by  alternating  bands  of  black  and  white,  or  black,  white,  and 
gray,  which  latter  is  an  admixture  of  the  two  former.  When  dyes  were 
introduced  by  the  Mexicans  or  Spaniards  among  the  Pueblo  Indians,  or 
became  common,  color  began  to  appear  even  in  Navaho  weaving,  and  at 
about  this  time  the  Navaho  squaw  dress  (perhaps  as  early  as  250  years 
ago)  took  on  the  distinguishing  and  marked  characteristics  which  it  has 
borne  up  to  the  present.  It  is  now,  unfortunately,  about  to  disappear 
from  the  world.  For  let  me  here -anticipate  somewhat  and  state  that  the 
strikingly  individualistic,  exquisitely  well-woven,  and  attractive  squaw 
dresses  that  for  a  century  or  more  have  delighted  the  eye  of  every  white 
man  who  has  ever  carefully  observed  them,  are  no  longer  woven,  no 
longer  worn,  and  are  absolutely  not  obtainable  anywhere,  at  any  price, 
save  from  the  collectors  and  dealers  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  secure 
a  few  before  they  finally  disappeared.  They  are  now  almost  as  rare  as 
fine  old  bayetas,  and  less  often  seen,  for  there  seems  to  be  fewer  of  them, 
those  that  were  woven  having  been  worn  until  they  fell  to  pieces. 

The  red  bayeta  was  undoubtedly  the  first  touch  of  color  introduced 
into  these  dresses.  It  is  a  part  of  the  romance  of  commercialism  that  the 
development  of  the  art  of  dyeing  and  consequent  enlargement  of  the 
artistic  faculty  in  designing  and  weaving  blankets  of  extraordinary  pat- 

39 


40  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

terns  among  the  Navahos  should  have  sprung  from  the  introduction  of  a 
peculiarly  woven  and  finished  red  cloth  (bay eta)  from  the  mills  of  the 
north  of  England. 

When  by  theft,  barter,  or  purchase  the  Navahos  secured  their  first 
bayeta  we  do  not  know,  and  it  would  be  interesting  could  we  penetrate 
the  secrets  of  the  past  and  discover  by  what  mental  processes,  or  by  what 
accident,  the  Navaho  weaver  was  first  led  to  unravel  a  piece  of  bayeta, 
respin  it,  and  reweave  it  into  her  own  fabric.  This  respinning  was  done 
for  two  purposes.  Sometimes  in  unraveling  the  yarn  became  somewhat 
untwisted,  and  it  was  essential  to  respin  it  to  give  it  proper  strength  for 
weaving.  Again,  the  weaver  desired  a  finer  thread  and  a  tighter  texture 
than  the  piece  of  English  woven  "baize,"  hence  she  respun  the  yarn  to 
give  her  the  desired  results. 

In  time  a  third  idea  sprang  up.  A  coarser  thread  was  sometimes 
desired,  so  the  bayeta  yarn  was  doubled,  or  even  trebled,  to  produce  the 
thicker  yarn. 

Now  the  Navaho  woman  was  ready  to  introduce  red  —  the  symbolic 
color  of  the  blessed  sunshine  —  into  her  dresses.  At  first  it  is  very  possi- 
ble this  was  done  in  alternate  stripes.  Indeed,  by  my  side,  on  the  floor 
in  my  library,  as  I  now  write,  I  have  a  squaw  dress  (of  a  later  date,  how- 
ever), which  is  made  of  alternate  stripes  of  red,  black,  and  gray.  And  in 
the  hall  close  by  is  another  squaw  dress,  of  Hopi  weave,  63x44  inches  in 
size  (hence  made  for  a  very  rotund-formed  woman),  of  black,  gray,  red, 
and  deep  blue  stripes  of  irregular  width.  And  I  also  find  in  my  collection 
of  Navaho  squaw  dresses  an  old  one  of  this  very  type. 

Then  the  creating  genius  was  found  who  designed,  or  accidentally 
hit  upon  the  exact  combination  that  took  the  Navaho  fancy,  so  that  it 
established  a  fashion  which  has  met  with  but  slight  changes  during  a  full 
century  or  more.  Broadly  speaking,  this  fortuitous  combination  is  a  body 
of  black — the  blacker  the  better  —  with  a  broad  red  band  at  top  and 
bottom,  into  which  some  geometrical  design  in  black  or  deepest  blue  is 
worked,  the  red  border  finally  edged  with  a  narrow  strip  of  deepest  blue 
or  black. 

Fig.  i o  is  of  a  rare  old  specimen  of  this  character  from  the  private 
collection  of  John  Lorenzo  Hubbell,  of  Ganado.  He  tells  me  that  for 
a  dozen  years  or  more  scarcely  an  old  piece  of  this  character  has  passed 
through  his  hands.  It  is  beautifully  woven  and  the  red  is  a  rich  bayeta, 
dyed  in  the  best  fashion  of  the  England  of  a  century  or  more  ago.  It  is 
fully  described  on  page  33. 

In  my  own  collection  I  have  many  somewhat  similar  specimens, 
though  not  quite  so  fine,  in  which  the  design  is  a  little  different.  This, 
and  the  difference  in  size  are  practically  the  only  variants.  These  are  all 


FIG.  26. 
A  Beautiful  Soft  Piece  of  Weaving. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


[PAGE    38] 


NAVAHO  AND  PUEBLO  SQUAW  DRESSES  4I 

woven  in  two  pieces,  which  are  then  sewed  together,  and  worn  as  else- 
where described  and  pictured. 

A  little  later,  however,  a  few  weavers  made  their  dresses  in  one 
piece,  and  I  have  several  specimens  of  this  type.  In  the  last  one  I  pur- 
chased, too,  there  was  a  variation  in  color.  Instead  of  the  body  color 
being  black,  it  was  of  a  deep  maroon,  almost  brown,  and  the  red  bands 
each  contain  a  Greek  key  design  in  striking  green,  while  the  terminal 
border,  much  wider  than  in  the  usual  type,  is  of  deep  blue,  indented  into 
the  red  with  a  step  (or  rain-cloud)  design.  (Fig.  29.) 

Of  somewhat  established  type  as  the  one  I  have  described  as  so 
popular  with  the  Navahos  is  the  one  prevalent  among  the  Zunis,  though 
there  is  much  greater  variation  existing  among  the  specimens  made  by 
this  tribe  than  I  have  seen,  or  been  able  to  secure. 

Mrs.  Matilda  Coxe  Stevenson  says  of  the  Zunis  that  "the  men's 
shirts,  ceremonial  kilts,  and  breechcloths  and  women's  dresses  and  wraps 
are  woven  of  black  or  dark-blue  native  wool  in  diagonal  style."  Strange 
to  say,  that  while  this  diagonal  weave  is  often  found  in  Navaho  blankets 
of  a  very  inferior  quality,  it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  found  in  their  squaw 
dresses.  The  Pueblo  Indians,  however,  of  many  villages  use  it  to  good 
effect,  and  nearly  always  in  their  own  garments. 

Fig.  30  is  a  characteristic  and  typical  specimen  of  an  old  Zuni 
squaw's  dress,  now  exceedingly  rare.  The  ground  color  is  blue  of  dif- 
ferent shades,  this  being  undoubtedly  the  result  of  the  use  of  wool  of 
different  periods  of  dyeing.  It  appears,  however  (with  exception  of  one 
stripe  of  a  dark  color  that  comes  four  and  one-half  inches  from  the  sec- 
ond red  band),  as  if  the  differences  in  the  color  of  the  blues  were  made 
purposely.  Even  the  blue  band  at  the  upper  and  lower  ends  of  the 
blanket  are  of  rich  deep  blue,  while  in  the  center  the  color  has  toned 
down  to  a  steely  blue,  yet  the  color  used  in  the  zigzag  of  the  two  wide  red 
bands  and  the  small  design  of  the  two  narrower  red  bands  are  of  the 
same  deep  blue  as  of  the  outer  bands. 

The  green  is  soft  old-gold-green  with  many  striking  variations,  which 
look  as  if  they  might  have  been  caused  deliberately  by  the  introduction  of 
short  lengths  of  yarn,  each  of  a  different  tone. 

This  blanket  is  not  of  straight,  but  is  of  the  twill  weave,  fully 
described  in  the  chapter  on  weaving.  Blankets  of  this  type  were  always 
used  as  squaw  dresses,  in  which  case  they  were  brought  around  the  person 
under  the  right  arm  and  fastened  over  the  left  shoulder  and  then  sewed 
down  the  left  side,  although  they  were  occasionally  worn  by  the  older 
women,  as  shown  in  Fig.  139.  Around  the  waist  was  worn  a  sash  of  the 
same  kind  of  weave,  as  is  clearly  observable  in  the  engraving. 

Fig.  31  is  of  a  Zuni  squaw  dress  in  my  own  collection,  the  borders 


42  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

of  which  are  in  blue  and  of  diagonal  weave.  The  apparently  curved  line 
is  in  deep  green  and  the  band  containing  the  serrated  diamonds  figure  is 
in  dark  red,  the  diamonds  being  in  blue,  outlined  with  dark  green,  and  the 
inside  square  of  red.  The  corresponding  band  below  is  of  the  same  colors. 
The  lighter  center  band  is  of  a  lighter  red.  The  general  effect  is  beautiful 
and  harmonious;  the  dyes  native  and  unfading,  and  the  weaving  even, 
smooth,  and  good.  The  warp  is  of  homespun  wool  and  exceedingly 
strong.  This  blanket  has  been  under  my  feet  in  my  library  for  over  a 
dozen  years,  and  while  showing  wear  at  the  ends  is  otherwise  as  good 
as  the  day  it  was  made. 

Careful  study  of  its  weave  shows  that  the  diamonds  are  worked 
out  so  that  the  warp  threads  are  brought  to  the  surface,  as  Mr.  A.  M. 
Stephen  describes  the  weave  of  the  Hopi  belts  in  another  chapter.  This  is 
a  rare  thing  to  see,  and  in  the  thousands  of  blankets  and  squaw  dresses  that 
in  the  last  thirty  years  have  passed  under  my  observation,  I  do  not  suppose 
I  have  seen  it  more  than  half  a  dozen  times. 

A  squaw  dress  of  this  type,  and  that  is  rarely  seen  today,  is  pictured 
in  Fig.  32.  I  purchased  it  at  Laguna,  N.  M.,  some  twenty  or  more 
years  ago,  and  ever  since  it  has  charmed  my  eyes  as  it  has  hung  on  one 
of  the  doors  of  my  library.  The  body  is  of  black,  while  the  deep  border 
at  each  end  is  of  red,  with  a  stepped  design  in  blue,  and  a  four-inch-wide 
strip  of  diagonally  woven  blue.  The  red  is  of  different  times  of  dyeing, 
as  it  varies  in  color. 

The  Acoma  Indians  make  a  squaw  dress  quite  as  ornate  and  beau- 
tifully woven  as  do  the  Zunis,  and  Fig.  33  is  a  good  specimen  found  in 
the  Fred  Harvey  collection,  at  Albuquerque,  N.  M.  The  body  of  the 
dress  is  black,  and  the  designs  on  the  borders  are  embroidered  in  signifi- 
cant designs.  These  dresses  are  generally  used  now  only  in  the  ceremonial 
dances  in  which  the  women  take  an  important  and  impressive  part. 

I  have  elsewhere  referred  to  the  idiosyncrasies  one  often  meets  with 
in  dealing  with  the  Indian.  The  squaw  dresses  of  the  Pueblos  afford  a 
fine  illustration. 

Though  the  Hopis  are  the  nearest  Pueblo  neighbors  the  Navahos 
have,  and  though  many  of  their  men  are  weavers,  they  do  not  follow 
the  universal  Pueblo  method  of  weaving  squaw  dresses,  but  either  pur- 
chase or  barter  for  those  of  Navaho  weave,  or  make  them  after  the 
style  of  the  ordinary  weave,  as  I  will  afterwards  describe. 

Fig.  34  is  of  a  rare  Hopi  ceremonial  squaw  dress  in  the  Fred  Har- 
vey collection.  It  is  of  extra  large  size,  well  and  finely  woven,  of  white 
cotton  body  with  embroideries  of  red,  white,  and  black,  which  form  most 
effective  borders. 

The  every-day  squaw  dresses  of  the  Hopi  referred  to  above  are  by 


FIG.  27. 
Another  Soft- Weave  Blanket. 

(Author's   Collection.) 


1 1' AGE    38] 


FIG.  28. 
An  Excellent  Traveling  Blanket. 

(Author's   Collection.) 


[PAGE     38] 


NAVAHO  AND  PUEBLO  SQUAW  DRESSES  43 

no  means  common,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  tell  where  any  given 
specimen  was  made,  unless  the  purchaser  gained  that  knowledge  at  the 
time  it  was  secured  from  the  Indian. 

Fig.  35  is  of  a  man-woven  Hopi  squaw  dress,  which,  however,  I 
purchased  from  a  Navaho.  The  man  who  wove  it  was  a  dweller  in 
Tewa,  or  Hano,  the  first  village  on  the  eastern  mesa  of  the  Hopis.  Now, 
strange  to  say,  though  regarded  as  Hopis,  and  always  spoken  of  as  Hopis, 
the  Tewas  are  a  foreign  people  who  came  from  the  Rio  Grande  region 
in  order  to  help  the  Hopis  fight  the  Utes  and  Apaches.  These  had  been 
attracted  from  the  north  and  south  by  the  flocks  of  sheep  and  other 
possessions  that  the  Hopi  had  acquired,  and  many  a  sharp  battle  of 
defense  was  fought,  though  the  Hopis  were  never  daring  enough  to  make 
expeditions  of  reprisal  upon  their  thieving  and  murderous  foes. 

Mr.  A.  M.  Stephen  thus  relates  how  the  Tewas  came  to  be  estab- 
lished with  the  Hopis : 

While  the  Tusayan  were  still  in  the  dire  straits  as  related,  they  sent  to  their 
distant  kinsmen  on  the  Rio  Grande,  beseeching  them  to  come  to  their  relief.  The 
messengers  went  to  the  village  of  Teh-wa,  which  is  now  called  Pena  Blanca,  lying 
upon  the  east  side  of  the  Rio  Grande  in  New  Mexico.  The  Teh-wa,  or  "  Tcheh- 
e-wa,"  House  people,  as  they  call  themselves,  speak  a  different  tongue  from  the  Hopi, 
but  are  very  similar  to  them  in  all  other  respects.  The  difference  in  language,  prob- 
ably results,  as  has  been  suggested,  by  a  former  long-continued  separation;  but  they 
also  differed  from  the  Hopi  in  possessing  courage  enough  to  take  the  field  against  a 
foreign  enemy.  They  came  to  the  aid  of  the  Hopi,  probably  in  1720,  moving  as  a 
sort  of  military  colony,  of  about  fifty  families,  and  afterwards  reinforced  by  as  many 
more.  On  the  day  preceding  their  arrival  at  Walpi,  the  Ute  had  driven  off  the  last 
flock  of  sheep  belonging  to  that  village;  the  Walpi  were  too  completely  cowed  to 
venture  out,  but  the  Teh-wa  at  once  took  the  trail,  and  came  up  with  the  Ute,  not 
many  miles  away.  They  had  driven  the  flock  up  a  steep  mesa  side,  and  when  they 
saw  the  Teh-wa  coming,  they  killed  the  sheep  on  a  broad  ledge,  and  piled  the  car- 
casses up  as  a  defense,  behind  which  they  fought.  They  had  a  few  firearms,  while 
the  Teh-wa  had  only  clubs,  stone-hatchets,  and  their  bows  and  arrows,  but  they 
charged  and  drove  the  Ute  before  them,  and  on  some  following  night  surprised  the 
Ute  asleep.  They  killed  all  but  two,  who  were  spared  to  go  to  the  Ute  country  and 
tell  their  people  that  the  Teh-wa  warriors  had  come.  On  their  return  from  this 
successful  expedition,  the  Teh-wa  built  the  village,  close  to  the  gap  on  the  east  mesa, 
which  they  still  occupy.  They  claim  that  their  redoubtable  presence  caused  the 
hostile  forays  to  cease,  but  as  the  region  had  been  very  persistently  despoiled,  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  this  circumstance  also  influenced  the  depredators  to  desist. 

To  return  now  to  the  blanket  which  has  caused  this  somewhat  lengthy 
digression.  It  is  woven  broad  side  on,  and  is  therefore  wider  than  it  is 
long.  Its  size  is  53x44  inches,  woven  in  five  panels,  three  of  which  are 
red,  with  designs  in  greenish-blue,  and  two  of  which  are  alternate  stripes 
of  gray  and  black.  Like  all  other  squaw  dresses,  this  was  worn  folded, 


44  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  sides  sewn  together  so  as  to  have  the  upper  portion  of  the  seam  rest- 
ing on  the  left  shoulder,  while  the  folded  crease  rested  under  the  right 
shoulder. 

Another  squaw  dress  of  similar  style  and  make,  though  a  trifle  more 
ornate  in  design,  is  shown  in  Fig.  36.  This  is  48x60  inches  in  size,  of 
soft  texture  and,  therefore,  loose  weave,  in  five  panels.  Three  of  these 
are  red,  with  square-like  designs  in  a  pale  violet,  on  the  two  outer  ones, 
and  square  or  Greek  crosses  on  the  center  panel.  The  two  other  panels 
are  made  up  of  gray  and  black  stripes.  In  the  center  panel  of  this  dress 
a  distinct  variation  of  the  color  of  the  stripe  in  which  the  crosses  occur  is 
seen.  This  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  results  of  using  yarn  dyed  at 
different  times  (though  supposedly  of  the  same  color),  and  it  also  shows 
what  I  have  elsewhere  explained,  that  the  weavers  do  not  always  take 
their  yarn  directly  across  the  fabric,  though  that  would  appear  to  be  the 
natural  and  workmanlike  procedure. 


FIG.  29. 
Modern  Navaho  Squaw  Dress. 

(Collection  of  C.  N.  Cotton.) 


[PAGE    40 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Song  of  Blessing  of  the  Blanket 

of  the  most  common  chants  or  sacred  songs  of  the  Navaho  is 
the  hozhoji,  or  song  of  blessing  or  benediction.  It  is  used  on  almost 
every  occasion,  in  social  and  domestic  life.  One  of  these  is  on  the  setting 
up  of  the  blanket  before  a  newly  erected  hogan.  Of  course  there  are 
unbelieving  and  irreligious  Navahos  who  care  little  or  nothing  for  these 
ceremonies  and  chants  that  are  very  dear,  sacred,  and  precious  to  the 
hearts  of  the  truly  religious;  and  the  more  industrious,  skillful,  and  care- 
ful the  weaver  the  more  likely  she  is  to  be  under  the  feeling  of  what  to 
her  are  religious  influences. 

According  to  the  mythology  and  beliefs  of  many  Indian  tribes,  and 
among  others,  the  near  neighbors  of  the  Navaho  —  the  Hopi  and  Zuni  — 
all  prayers  offered  in  the  blessing  of  any  particular  object  inhere  to  that 
object,  hence  the  friendly  races,  combats,  strivings,  competitions,  and 
strugglings  to  gain  possession  of  these  objects  over  which  prayers  have 
been  offered,  sacred  songs  sung,  and  rites  performed.  These  are  taken 
and  used  to  make  the  cornfields  more  fruitful,  to  make  the  herds  more 
prolific  and  to  bring  an  abundance  of  good  luck  in  every  direction. 

While,  to  most  cultured  Americans,  there  may  seem  to  be  nothing  of 
good  that  can  come  from  the  prayers  and  songs  of  a  barbaric  Navaho,  I 
am  free  to  confess  it  does  not  lessen  the  value  of  a  good  blanket  in  my 
estimation  to  know  that  it  is  probable  that  songs  of  blessing  and  benedic- 
tion and  prayers  of  helpfulness  have  been  sung  and  said  over  it.  I  like 
to  feel  that  the  Navaho  woman  thought  of  the  beautiful  poetic  symbols 
of  the  first  blanket  when  she  made  my  blanket,  and  that  before  she  began 
work  upon  it  she  prayed  that  only  beautiful  things  should  come  in  touch 
with  it.  Then  I  can  see  the  ceremony  of  blessing  the  hogan,  as  it  is  else- 
where described  in  these  pages.  The  doorway  is  an  important  spot  in  the 
hogan.  It  faces  the  rising  sun.  The  sun  is  not  a  dead  object  of  inani- 
mate Nature  to  the  Navaho,  but  a  living,  supreme,  divine  personality, 
whose  eyes  gaze  upon  the  innerness  of  everything  exposed  to  his  gaze. 
The  blanket  that  covers  the  doorway,  therefore,  is  ever  in  his  sight  dur- 
ing the  morning  hours,  and  it,  with  all  the  rest  of  the  hogan,  is  made  the 
subject  of  the  prayers  of  blessing. 

45 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Temporary  Deterioration  of  the  Art  of  Navaho  Blanket  Weaving 

TT  IS  essential  in  studying  aright  the  history  of  the  Navaho  blanket  and 
-*•  its  present  condition  to  realize  the  causes  that  led  to  its  deterioration, 
and,  for  a  time,  almost  threatened  its  destruction.  Fortunately,  this  con- 
dition was  but  temporary,  and  has  been,  in  the  main,  bravely  overcome. 

As  explained  in  an  earlier  chapter,  up  to  about  thirty-five  or  forty 
years  ago  the  only  Navaho  blankets  one  could  secure  were  bayetas, 
"native-wools"  and  "native  dyes,"  with,  now  and  again,  a  cheaper  grade 
used  as  common  blankets. 

Four  things  were  responsible  for  the  rapid  change  and  decline  in  the 
character  of  the  Navaho  weavers'  work.  These  were : 

i.  The  introduction  of  Germantown  yarns.  2.  The  commercializa- 
tion of  the  art.  3.  The  introduction  of  aniline  dyes.  4.  The  introduction 
of  cotton  warps. 

Let  us  consider  these  factors  in  their  order  and  see  how  much 
influence  each  contributed  to  the  temporary  breakdown  of  the  art. 

/.  The  Introduction  of  Germantown  Yarns 

At  the  first,  when  Germantown  yarn  was  introduced  to  the  Navaho, 
fully  forty  years  ago,  the  weaver  took  it  upon  herself  to  retwist  the  yarn 
to  make  it  firmer  and  tighter.  The  result  was  that  the  earlier  woven  Ger- 
mantowns  are  almost  as  good  as  those  made  from  bayeta  or  native-dyed 
wools.  The  reason  for  this  is  clear.  The  earlier  Germantown  yarns  were 
dyed,  as  were  the  English  bayetas,  from  old  vegetable  and  other  dyes  of 
tested  quality,  and  the  mordants  were  as  carefully  chosen  as  the  dyes. 
Hence  the  colors  were  sure  and  reasonably  free  from  liability  to  fade. 

But  there  was  a  subtle,  because  almost  imperceptible,  injurious  influ- 
ence introduced  when  the  weaver  could  purchase  yarn  ready-made  instead 
of  being  compelled  to  engage  in  the  labor  of  making  it  herself. 

When,  too,  the  Germantown  yarns  began  to  be  dyed  with  aniline 
dyes  they  lost  their  old  time  charms,  gave  to  the  civilized  world  more 
gorgeous  brilliant  hues,  dazzled  its  eyes  as  well  as  those  of  the  Navaho 
weavers,  and  helped  pervert  the  popular  taste  in  regard  to  colors,  just  as 

46 


DETERIORATION  OF  THE  ART  47 

too  much  salt  in  a  cooked  dish  destroys  the  subtler  and  finer  flavors  and 
essential  essences  of  the  dish  itself. 

Yet  while  the  general  effect  of  the  introduction  of  Germantown 
yarns  was  to  produce  deterioration  for  a  time,  there  were  some  weavers 
who  now  did  their  best  work.  The  marvelous  increase  in  colors  and  the 
ease  with  which  they  procured  the  yarn  all  ready  for  weaving  seemed  to 
stimulate  these  women  to  high  endeavor.  Hence,  some  exquisite  speci- 
mens of  Germantown  blankets  come  to  us  from  this  period.  Such  a  one 
is  Fig.  37,  from  the  Vroman  collection.  It  is  as  gorgeous  as  a  ballet 
in  a  Christmas  pantomime,  and  though  it  fairly  revels  in  riotous  color,  in 
design  and  weave  it  is  a  wonderfully  superior  piece  of  work.  I  doubt 
if  a  finer  piece  of  Navaho  weaving  of  Germantown  yarn  has  ever  been 
seen.  It  is  as  close  and  tight  as  felt  and  will  carry  water  today,  although 
it  has  been  in  constant  use  on  the  floor  ever  since  it  was  purchased. 

2.   The  Commercialization  of  the  Art 

Now  came  the  serious  step  in  the  art's  downfall.  It  appeared  for  a 
while  as  if  it  might  be  a  frightful  precipice  over  which  it  would  fall  for- 
ever. And  yet,  when  the  step  was  first  taken,  it  was  with  the  best  of 
intention  and  without  any  thought  of  doing  injury  to  the  Navahos  or  their 
art.  Indeed,  it  was  with  the  desire  to  enlarge  the  Indians'  productiveness. 
John  Lorenzo  Hubbell  was  already  well  established  as  an  Indian  trader 
among  the  Navahos  at  Ganado,  Arizona.  In  the  year  1884  C.  N.  Cotton 
joined  him  there  in  partnership. 

Their  whole  purchase  of  blankets  that  year  amounted  to  but  between 
300  and  400  pounds.  These  were  of  the  common,  straight-pattern  type 
and  were  purchased  or  traded  for  at  about  $2.00  each.  No  saddle- 
blankets  were  either  offered  for  sale  or  bought. 

The  following  year  Messrs.  Hubbell  and  Cotton  began  to  see  pos- 
sibilities in  the  blanket  business.  Why  could  they  not  get  a  market  for 
these  products  of  the  Navahos'  looms?  While  the  finer  quality  of  native- 
wool,  native-dyed  blankets,  and  also  those  of  Germantown  yarn  were 
being  made,  practically  none  were  being  offered  for  sale  or  barter  to 
the  traders.  Mr.  Cotton  began  to  urge  upon  the  weavers  that  they 
bring  in  more  blankets  of  the  better  qualities  and  also  that  they  make 
more  of  the  common  grades.  Little  by  little  they  built  up  a  good  busi- 
ness, and  all  seemed  to  be  well.  The  Navahos  were  glad  of  the  increase 
in  their  income,  and  the  fact  that  Hubbell  and  Cotton  purchased  all  the 
blankets  the  weavers  brought  in  soon  spread  over  the  reservation,  and 
added  both  to  their  fame,  their  ordinary  business,  and  the  stock  of  their 
blankets.  This  state  of  affairs  continued,  however,  for  but  a  short  time. 


48  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Two  new  and  disturbing  elements  were  at  hand.     These  were  the  intro- 
duction of  aniline  dyes  and  cotton  warps. 

5.   The  Introduction  of  Aniline  Dyes 

At  this  time,  Mr.  B.  F.  Hyatt,  who  was  the  post  trader  at  Fort 
Defiance,  introduced  aniline  dyes  and  taught  the  Navaho  women  with 
whom  he  traded  how  to  use  them.  Mr.  Cotton  wished  to  do  the  same  at 
Ganado,  but  Mr.  Hubbell  objected,  foreseeing  what  afterwards  actually 
occurred  —  the  deterioration  of  the  quality  of  the  work.  The  Navahos 
already  had  indigo  and  most  of  the  old  blankets  in  which  blue  is  the 
predominating  color  date  from  the  early  eighteen  eighties.  The  indigo 
was  purchased  from  the  Mexicans,  or  later,  from  the  traders. 

In  the  winter  of  1886-7,  however,  Mr.  Cotton  had  his  way  and  he 
succeeded  in  having  one  of  the  great  dye  manufacturers  put  up,  ready  for 
use,  a  quantity  of  aniline  dyes.  He  instructed  the  weavers  how  to  prepare 
them  and  then  encouraged  them  in  the  making  of  various  and  individual- 
istic designs.  Those  weavers  who  showed  artistic  and  inventive  skill  he 
took  particular  pains  with,  as  now  did  also  Mr.  Hubbell,  and  instead  of 
buying  the  product  of  their  looms  by  the  pound,  they  were  purchased  by 
the  piece  —  the  price  always  being  proportioned  to  the  tightness  and 
fineness  of  the  yarn,  the  cleanliness  of  the  wool,  the  color  scheme,  the 
individuality  of  the  design,  and  the  closeness  of  the  weave. 

Thus  was  begun  the  trade  in  the  modern  blanket,  and  to  Mr.  Hyatt 
is  due  the  honor — and  also  the  execration  —  that  has  followed  the  intro- 
duction of  the  aniline  dye  to  the  Navahos.  For  a  time  all  seemed  to  go 
well.  The  demand  for  Navaho  blankets  increased  rapidly.  The  traders 
could  not  secure  enough  to  supply  their  customers. 

4.   The  Introduction  of  Cotton  Warp 

To  hasten  on  the  manufacture  of  more  blankets,  therefore,  the 
traders  themselves  introduced  a  cotton  warp  which  they  sold  at  a  low 
price  to  the  Indian.  Thus  relieved  of  the  trouble  and  labor  of  making 
wool  warps,  blankets  were  made  much  easier,  and  therefore  cheaper  than 
before,  and  speedily  a  great  demand  was  created  for  cheap  blankets. 
Urged  on  to  greater  productiveness  the  Indians  failed  to  clean  the  wool 
aright;  they  had  neither  the  time  properly  to  scour  and  wash  it,  remove 
the  burrs,  nor  extract  the  dirt,  dust,  and  grease.  Such  wool  as  this  never 
takes  the  dye  properly,  hence  the  colors  were  uneven.  Rushed  to  com- 
plete her  task,  for  which  she  knew  she  would  get  a  small  price,  the  weaver 


FIG.  31. 
Zuni  Squaw  Dress,  Fine  Old  Weave. 

(Author's   Collection.) 


[PAGE  41] 


DETERIORATION  OF  THE  ART  49 

spun  her  dirty,  greasy,  poorly-carded,  imperfectly-dyed  wool  into  the 
loosest,  thickest,  and  coarsest  kind  of  yarn,  and  then  hastily  and  indif- 
ferently wove  it — upon  the  cheap  and  flimsy  cotton  warp  —  in  poor 
designs,  with  a  loose  stitch,  the  sooner  to  get  it  into  the  trader's  hands 
and  secure  her  pay. 

Even  in  the  case  of  the  Germantown  yarns,  cotton  warps  were  used, 
and  though  the  designs  were  better  than  in  the  ordinary  blankets  the  work 
was  hastily  done,  not  thoroughly  battened  down,  and  consequently  soon 
exposed  the  flimsy  warp  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  daily  use. 

These  were  the  factors  that  combined  to  pull  down  and  degrade  the 
weaver's  art,  but  it  did  not  take  practical  business  sense  long  to  assert 
itself  and  bring  about  a  change.  This  was  being  done  slowly,  but  surely, 
all  the  leading  traders  refusing  to  purchase  at  any  price  the  badly  cleaned, 
dyed,  spun,  and  woven  articles.  Unable  to  sell  them  or  even  get  rid  of 
them  in  trade,  the  weavers  were  compelled  to  use  them  for  their  own 
purposes,  and  thus  the  most  careless  and  indifferent  were  brought  to  see 
the  necessity  for  improvement,  when,  by  the  irony  of  fate,  a  well-inten- 
tioned movement,  inaugurated  by  two  wealthy  New  York  brothers 
brought  back  for  a  short  time  the  evil  conditions,  and  yet,  in  the  end,  made 
the  improvement  more  certain.  In  about  the  year  1900  the  Hyde  Explor- 
ing Expedition  was  organized.  Mr.  B.  T.  Babbitt-Hyde  and  his  brother 
were  exceedingly  desirous  of  thoroughly  and  scientifically  exploring  the 
little  known  and  secret  recesses  of  the  Navaho  reservation,  and  they 
became  so  interested  in  the  Navahos  and  their  weaving  art  that  they 
determined  to  help  enlarge  their  output  of  blankets  by  opening  up  large 
depots  in  American  cities  to  dispose  of  all  they  would  weave.  A  most 
laudable  purpose  and  one  which  should  have  redounded  to  their  credit. 
But,  unfortunately,  all  their  traders  in  the  field  were  not  imbued  with  their 
spirit  and  high  purpose,  and  before  they  could  stop  it,  the  demand  created 
for  blankets  was  bringing  in  a  flood  of  the  wretchedly  inferior  work 
above  described. 

The  results  might  have  been  foreseen.  The  public — or  the  more 
shrewd  and  discerning  of  it — refused  to  buy  this  inferior  work,  whether 
of  the  dirty,  greasy,  coarser  native  wools,  or  the  poorer  work  of  the 
expensive  Germantown  yarns.  Yet  the  flood  of  poor  quality,  thick, 
coarse,  loosely  woven  blankets,  wretchedly  dyed  in  hideous  combinations 
of  colors  continued  to  pour  into  the  market.  As  an  art,  Navaho  weaving 
was  doomed  unless  something  speedily  was  done.  While  the  conscientious 
traders  had  purchased  few  or  none  of  this  kind,  selecting  all  the  blankets 
offered  with  the  greatest  care  and  discernment,  this  other  flood  placed 
the  Hyde  Exploring  Expedition  in  the  anomalous  position  of  offering  for 
sale,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  though  through  their  different  stores,  the 


5o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

very  highest  specimens  of  the  modern  Navaho  weaver's  art,  and  the  low- 
est—  or  pretty  nearly  so. 

The  very  magnitude  of  this  laudable  and  praiseworthy  endeavor,  the 
great  advertising  it  secured,  the  immense  number  of  the  blankets  pur- 
chased, the  arousal  of  the  public  interest,  the  number  of  newspaper  and 
magazine  articles  published  about  the  Navaho  Indian  and  his  blanket,  all 
had  an  educative  effect,  which  had  an  ultimate  reaction  for  positive  good 
upon  the  art  itself.  Unable  to  cope  with  the  situation,  or  determined  to 
free  themselves  from  the  burden  placed  upon  them  by  irresponsible  men, 
the  Hyde  Exploring  Expedition  sold  out  to  Mr.  J.  W.  Benham  and  his 
associates,  who  speedily  established  the  business  upon  a  sound  footing, 
on  the  lines  indicated  in  the  next  chapter.  The  lesson  has  been  well 
learned.  The  public,  now,  is  too  well-informed  upon  the  Navaho  blanket 
to  tolerate  any  further  playing  with  the  business.  It  demands,  and  will 
have,  good  blankets,  or  none,  and  in  that  insistent  demand  the  art  finds 
its  chief  and  surest  safeguard. 


FIG.  32. 
Pueblo-made  Squaw  Dress. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


[PAGE  42] 


CHAPTER  IX 

Improving  the  Art  of  Navaho  Blanket-Weaving 

O  STUDENT  of  the  Navaho  blanket  will  contend  for  one  moment 

that  the  fine  old  weaves  are  not  the  most  eagerly  sought  after,  and 
oftentimes  the  most  perfectly  woven  blankets  known  to  the  connoisseur. 
A  blanket  in  which  native  dye  was  used,  made  of  finely  spun  and  closely 
woven  native  wool,  which  was  thoroughly  cleaned  and  scoured  before 
being  dyed,  embellished  with  a  design  that  attracts  and  pleases  the  eye 
is  as  eagerly  sought  as  ever.  So  is  one  in  which  the  retwisted  red  bayeta 
forms  the  main  body  of  the  blanket.  Almost  equally  desirable  are  the 
earlier  and  better  qualities  made  of  Germantown  yarn,  where  the  warps 
were  of  wool,  even  though  the  colors  and  designs,  originally,  were  of 
barbaric  splendor.  In  time  these  colors  tone  down  to  exquisite  harmonies 
that  make  the  blankets  pictures  of  beauty  and  charm. 

Such  blankets  as  these  will  ever  be  in  demand,  and  are  eagerly  sought 
after  today  at  prices  that  are  constantly  increasing. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  as  good  blankets  are  being  made  now  as 
ever.  As  a  rule  when  the  white  man  has  commercialized  an  aboriginal 
art  it  becomes  degraded  and  debased  so  that  one  is  compelled  to  look 
for  the  finest  specimens  among  the  oldest  examples. 

While  this  is  true  of  the  Navaho  blanket,  the  finest  old  specimens 
being  scarce  and  almost  priceless,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  in  spite 
of  the  period  of  marked  deterioration,  fully  explained  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  the  Navaho  weaver  has  reasserted  herself,  and  is  now  making 
blankets  that  in  general  and  specific  terms  equal  those  of  the  past  in 
everything  except  age  and  the  use  of  native  dyes. 

When  blanket  weaving  reached  its  lowest  stage  and  the  public  had 
begun  to  realize  the  cheap  and  almost  worthless  character  of  much  of 
the  work  offered  to  them  the  sales  dropped  off  woefully,  for  they  refused 
to  purchase  more  of  such  unworthy  goods. 

This  worked  like  an  electric  shock  upon  the  traders.  They  saw — 
not  all  at  once — but  with  the  speediness  of  shrewd  business  men,  that  in 
their  haste  to  develop  a  trade  they  had  made  a  grave  mistake.  Yet  they 
had  self-willed  Indians  to  deal  with,  who  neither  understood  nor  cared 
anything  for  the  white  man's  method  of  reasoning.  If  they  refused  to 
accept  blankets  in  trade,  however  poor,  the  Indians  would  go  off  in  a  huff 

51 


52  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

and  do  their  trading  elsewhere.  The  traders  had  no  union  or  league  so 
that  they  could  pool  their  interests.  They  were  too  far  apart  to  have 
the  opportunity  to  meet  with  one  another,  save  by  accident;  hence  for  a 
while  blanket  matters  stood  at  a  low  ebb.  Soon,  however,  it  became 
apparent  to  the  most  indifferent  and  thoughtless  that  something  must  be 
done,  or  ruin  stared  them  in  the  face.  They  could  not  continue  to  pur- 
chase poor  quality  blankets  which  they  could  not  sell,  no  matter  what  the 
Navahos  thought  or  did.  As  soon  as  this  idea  was  fully  developed  in 
their  minds  things  began  to  change  for  the  better. 

To  four  firms,  more  than  any  others,  who  stand  in  close  relation  to 
the  purchasing  public,  is  owing,  undoubtedly,  the  rapid  improvement  of 
the  art  in  late  years.  Fred  Harvey,  whose  great  Indian  collections  at 
Albuquerque,  New  Mexico,  and  at  the  Hopi  House  at  the  Grand  Canyon, 
have  been  the  delight  and  instruction  of  many  thousands,  and  who  has 
Indian  stores  at  many  of  the  leading  depots  along  the  line  of  the  Santa  Fe 
railway,  set  his  face  definitely  and  unalterably  against  all  of  the  low-grade, 
common,  and  poorly  made  blankets.  He  would  not  handle  them  at  any 
price.  He  demanded  of  his  weavers  throughout  the  reservation  the 
best,  and  refused  all  others.  Cotton  warps,  save  in  the  few  exceptional 
cases  referred  to,  were  positively  debarred,  and  all  yarn  must  be  thor- 
oughly cleansed,  deodorized,  dyed,  and  spun  before  it  was  woven,  or  it 
could  not  be  disposed  of  to,  or  by,  him.  This  naturally  made  the  Fred 
Harvey  blankets  seem  to  be  of  a  higher  price  than  those  offered  by  others. 
But  it  was  and  is  only  a  seeming.  The  purchaser  who  is  discriminating 
and  wants  only  the  good  thing,  does  not  always  have  the  time  or  oppor- 
tunity to  study  into  the  details  of  his  purchases.  He  wishes  to  deal  with 
a  reliable  house  who  will  guarantee  to  him  that  he  is  purchasing  the  best. 
He  is  willing  to  pay  a  fair  price  for  such  expert  advice,  and  such  guar- 
anteed protection,  and  from  this  standpoint  Fred  Harvey's  blankets  are 
as  reasonable  as  those  of  any  house  in  the  trade.  He  also  carries  an 
immense  stock,  not  only  of  the  rare  old  type  of  blankets,  but  of  the  mod- 
ern weaves,  of  every  style  and  make. 

In  a  similar  manner  The  Benham  Indian  Trading  Company  stood 
between  its  customers  and  poor  work.  Mr.  J.  W.  Benham,  the  founder 
of  the  company,  and  his  father,  Mr.  A.  M.  Benham,  were  men  of  the 
most  upright  character,  who  thoroughly  understood  the  business  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  they  built  up  a  large  trade  by  their  integrity  and 
conscientious  treatment  of  their  customers.  The  present  head  of  the  firm, 
by  whose  name  the  business  is  now  known  —  The  Burns  Indian  Trading 
Company — was  practical  manager  of  the  older  business  for  some  years 
and  is  carrying  on  the  business  on  the  same  high  plane. 

Messrs.  Hubbell  and  Cotton  also  demanded  the  better  work,  and 


FIG.  33- 
Acoma  Squaw  Dress. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 


[PAGE  42] 


IMPROVING  THE  ART  53 

when  the  partnership  between  them  was  dissolved  the  former  made 
arrangements  with  all  the  leading  weavers  of  his  part  of  the  reservation, 
and  for  twenty-five  years  or  more  has  kept  them  all  busy  making  fine 
blankets  that  are  standards  of  excellence  throughout  the  trade. 

About  the  beginning  of  this  century  Mr.  J.  B.  Moore,  who  had  a 
trading  post  on  the  reservation  at  a  point  afterwards  named  Crystal, 
New  Mexico,  made  a  further  step  in  advance  in  the  improvement  of  the 
art.  Instead  of  allowing  the  Indians  to  card,  scour,  and  dye  their  wool,  he 
carefully  selected  the  finest  quality  and  longest  staple  of  the  wool  he  had 
purchased  from  the  Navahos,  and  shipped  it  east  in  carload  lots  to  the 
mills,  where  with  modern  machinery  and  by  improved  mechanical  and 
chemical  methods  all  the  impurities,  the  grease,  the  attendant  odor,  were 
scientifically  and  certainly  removed.  Then  the  cleaned  and  purified  wool 
was  shipped  back,  and,  under  his  own  direction,  carded,  spun  into  yarn 
by  the  Navahos,  and  dyed  with  colors  of  his  own  choosing.  Thus  the 
dyes  were  more  likely  to  be  permanent,  and  none  of  the  inharmonious 
colors  were  introduced. 

Now  the  yarn  was  issued  to  those  weavers  who  had  proven  their 
craftsmanship  and  artistic  skill.  Only  enough  was  issued  for  one  blanket 
at  a  time,  and  the  size  of  it  was  to  be  carefully  shown.  The  weaver  was 
left  to  her  own  originality  and  creative  power  if  she  had  shown  her  ability 
in  the  past,  otherwise  a  blanket  was  placed  before  her  and  she  was 
instructed  to  make  her  design  as  near  to  that  as  possible.  To  get  her 
to  copy  a  design  exactly  is  almost  impossible.  Even  with  the  least  original 
of  designers  there  seems  to  be  the  pride  of  the  true  artist  who  must 
originate  and  not  copy. 

This  plan  of  Mr.  Moore's  worked  well,  for  there  are  some  weavers 
who  have  superior  technical  skill  in  the  mere  mechanical  part  of  weaving 
but  who  lack  the  artistic  and  creative  power  to  originate  striking  and 
pleasing  designs.  By  this  method  they  are  given  the  suggestion  for 
designs  which  they  always  deviate  from  and  thus  secure  the  touch  of 
original  personality,  while  at  the  same  time  the  weaving  is  done  with 
that  superior  skill  that  is  their  especial  pride  and  boast. 

By  these  means  Mr.  Moore  secured  blankets  of  superior  uniformity 
of  quality,  whose  points  of  superiority  were  perfect  cleanliness  of  the 
wool,  odorlessness,  dyes  of  assured  permanency,  richness  and  harmonious- 
ness  of  color  scheme,  fine  and  tightly  spun  woof  threads,  the  same  assured 
quality  in  the  wool  warp  threads,  novel  and  pleasing  designs  carefully 
executed,  and  that  tightness  or  closeness  of  weave  that  alone  assures 
durability. 

Most  of  these  blankets  of  Mr.  Moore's  were  sold  directly  to  the 
individual  purchaser.  He  did  a  large  mail  order  business,  without  allow- 


54  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

ing  his  goods  to  go  into  the  hands  of  the  dealer,  and  gained  considerable 
note  as  well  as  a  large  financial  return  by  this  method  of  sale. 

In  1911-12,  however,  he  sold  out  to  Mr.  J.  A.  Molohon,  who,  at 
the  same  post,  is  carrying  on  the  business  in  the  same  manner  and  has 
materially  added  to  his  staff  of  expert  weavers. 

One  of  the  finest  specimens  extant  of  the  best  class  of  blanket  which 
the  superior  and  honest  weavers  of  this  epoch  made  is  shown  in  Fig.  38. 
These  were  generally  made  for  shamans  (medicine  men),  or  those  who 
were  regarded  as  chiefs  of  their  section  of  country;  hence  received  all  the 
care  and  attention  that  blankets  for  ceremonial  and  personal  use  were 
entitled  to  before  the  days  of  commercialism. 

The  body  is  in  the  plain  straight  stripes,  mainly  of  black  and  blue 
with  two  relief  bands,  in  which  old-gold-green,  and  blue  are  included 
between  two  bands  of  red.  The  center  of  the  blanket  contains  the  con- 
ventionalized zigzag  design,  and  the  two  ends  are  likewise  finished  with 
this  conventionalized  zigzag  symbol. 

This  blanket  has  seen  good  service,  and  is  today  in  good  condition. 
Its  use  and  old  age  have  improved  it.  The  weave  is  not  too  tight,  although 
tight  enough  to  be  solid,  but  the  blanket  is  soft  and  yielding.  The  one 
great  charm  of  blankets  of  this  kind  is  found  in  the  subtle  variations  of 
tone  that  the  colors  take  on  during  the  lapse  of  time.  Some  of  the  black 
stripes  take  on  a  brownish  tinge,  while  the  blue  varies  in  quality,  and  as 
one  moves  it  and  looks  at  it  there  is  a  play  of  color  upon  it  that  reminds 
one  of  the  elusive  though  positive  hues  and  tints  that  are  found  on  the 
desert.  This  blanket  possesses  a  rich  iridescence,  combined  with  that 
elusive  quality.  It  is  in  the  Fred  Harvey  collection. 

It  is  freely  conceded  by  all  traders  that  the  Navaho  is  a  shrewd 
business  man,  and  the  women  are  as  keen,  intelligent,  and  self-reliant  as 
the  men.  This  in  itself  has  been  one  of  the  strong  reasons  for  the 
improvement  in  the  blanket.  As  soon  as  the  weaver  realized  that  the 
cupidity  of  the  trader  had  led  him  to  overreach  himself  in  urging  the 
use  of  inferior  material,  etc.,  the  wiser  of  the  weavers  took  the  matter 
into  their  own  hands  and  began  to  remedy  the  evil.  But  the  Navaho, 
being  a  keen  trader,  it  was  but  natural,  says  one  who  knows  him  well, 
"  if  he  saw  he  could  get  an  equally  good  price  for  an  inferior  and  poor 
article,  than  he  could  for  one  upon  which  he  had  expended  much  care, 
time,  and  labor,  he  would  do  just  about  what  his  palefaced  brother 
would  do." 

Hence  the  education  in  some  cases  had  to  be  of  the  trader  rather 
than  the  weaver.  The  former  had  to  learn  that  the  public  was  growing 
more  discriminating  and  would  no  longer  be  satisfied  with  a  poor  quality 
of  work.  The  lesson  is  now  pretty  well  learned  by  both  Indian  and 


FIG.  35- 
Man-Woven  Hopi  Squaw  Dress. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


[PAGE  43] 


FIG.  36. 
Hopi  Squaw  Dress. 

(Author's  Collection.) 
Somewhat  unique. 


[PAGE    44] 


IMPROVING  THE  ART  55 

trader,  hence  the  quality  of  blankets  will  continue  to  improve,  even  though 
the  output  increases  and  becomes  four  times  what  it  now  is. 

The  steps  by  which  improvement  has  come  are  very  simple.  First, 
cotton  warps  were  frowned  upon,  and  some  of  the  wiser  traders  refused 
to  sell  another  pound  of  them.  Those  who  dealt  in  aniline  dyes  made 
a  careful  choice  of  a  few  good  colors,  that  experience  had  demonstrated 
were  "faster"  than  others,  and  that  were  less  glaring  and  fantastic 
when  combined.  Today  only  a  few  standard  colors  can  be  bought  by  the 
Navahos  from  their  regular  traders.  If  they  wish  the  more  startling 
colors  they  must  go  or  send  to  some  civilized  city  drug-store,  for  the 
traders  have  learned  wisdom  and  refuse  to  carry  them. 

Then  came  the  pressure  put  upon  the  Indians  for  the  improvement 
of  the  native  wools,  even  though  they  used  the  aniline  dyes  in  their 
coloring.  First  the  thorough  cleaning  and  carding  of  the  wool  was 
demanded,  with  the  extracting  of  all  foreign  substances  and  the  elimina- 
tion of  matted  and  greasy  clumps.  Then  they  saw  to  it  that  the  wool  was 
thoroughly  scoured  and  deodorized,  so  that  none  of  the  "sheepy"  smell 
adhered  to  it.  Now  it  was  fit  to  be  dyed,  and,  being  clean  and  sweet,  took 
the  color  perfectly  and  satisfactorily.  It  next  became  a  matter  of  per- 
suasion by  offering  larger  pay  to  get  the  weavers,  first,  to  spin  their  yarn, 
both  for  warp  and  woof,  tighter  and  finer.  In  this  way  it  was  soon 
made  equal  and  even  superior,  when  thoroughly  and  tightly  spun,  to  the 
Germantown.  Second,  to  invent  and  weave  more  artistic,  pleasing,  strik- 
ing, and  original  designs;  and,  third,  to  weave  them  tighter,  closer,  and 
more  carefully,  so  that  the  critical  eye  and  hand  had  less  faults  to  find 
than  formerly. 

Some  traders  went  so  far  as  to  offer  prizes  for  the  best  blankets 
offered  by  their  weavers.  A  few  of  the  more  intelligent  traders,  who 
every  year  had  been  giving  the  Indians  of  the  surrounding  country  a 
"feast,"  now  used  these  gatherings  for  the  purpose  of  creating  rivalry 
in  blanket  weaving.  All  the  best  blankets  of  their  stock  were  exhibited 
in  a  booth,  and  competitions  thus  freely  and  openly  made  soon  aroused 
the  desire  for  improvement  —  even  for  mastery. 

The  result  of  these  efforts  is  seen  in  that  the  Navahos  are  now  weav- 
ing few  blankets  of  any  kind  that  have  a  cotton  warp,  except  the  small 
and  cheap  pillow  covers,  which  do  not  have  the  same  strain  of  wear 
and  tear  that  the  larger  blankets  are  subject  to.  Of  the  Germantown 
yarn  blankets  there  are  not  five  per  cent,  made  of  the  number  that  were 
manufactured  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago.  Yet  this  is  not  because  the 
Germantown  yarn  is  not  good. 

It  is  rather  that  the  Navahos  have  learned  that,  if  they  would 
preserve  their  profitable  industry,  they  must  themselves  make  a  yarn  that, 


56  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

in  every  sense  of  the  word,  is  equal  to  the  Germantown.  This  they  are 
now  doing,  as  all  the  experts  who  have  watched  recent  developments 
freely  testify. 

Of  such  yarn  is  that  used  in  Fig.  39,  which  represents  a  modern 
blanket  made  by  one  of  Fred  Harvey's  weavers  at  Albuquerque,  New 
Mexico.  This  is  a  perfect  illustration  of  the  assertion  that  I  have  so  often 
made  in  these  pages  that  the  weavers  of  today  are  making  just  as  good 
blankets  as  any  that  have  ever  been  made.  While  the  yarn  of  this  blanket 
is  not  quite  as  fine  as  that  of  an  old  bayeta,  it  is  even  more  closely  woven. 
Such  a  blanket  as  this  is  so  stiff  from  the  firmness  of  the  battening  down 
process  that  it  cannot  be  used  as  a  wrap  or  a  cover  for  the  body.  It  is 
almost  as  stiff  as  cardboard.  This  fine  quality,  however,  renders  it  perfect 
as  a  rug  and  there  is  no  such  thing  as  wearing  out  a  blanket  of  such  texture 
and  weave  as  this.  The  design  is  simple  but  pleasing,  the  main  body  being 
in  native  grays  of  different  tinges  and  shades.  The  border  is  of  native 
black — not  dyed  —  wool.  There  are  also  lines  of  a  deeper  brown  in  the 
square  stepped  figures,  and  these  also  are  of  undyed  wool.  The  color 
effect  is  exceedingly  pleasant,  while  a  touch  of  red  adds  sufficient  life  to 
attract  and  please  the  eye. 

There  are  also  other  powerful  factors  at  work  which  tend  directly 
to  the  improvement  of  the  art  of  the  Navaho  weaver. 

In  the  early  days  the  Navaho  knew  nothing  of  scientific  breeding  or 
care  of  his  sheep.  In  1851  Dr.  Letherman  wrote: 

The  males  are  permitted  to  run  with  the  herds  at  all  seasons,  and  the  young, 
consequently,  are  born  in  the  winter  as  well  as  in  the  spring  and  autumn,  and  many 
die.  For  this  reason  their  flocks  do  not  increase  with  the  rapidity  generally  believed 
by  those  not  much  acquainted  with  these  people.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
there  is  anything  peculiar  about  Navaho  sheep,  for  such  is  not  the  case. 

At  that  time  he  estimated  the  number  of  the  sheep  to  be  about 
two  hundred  thousand,  and  he  declared  that  the  "wool  is  coarse  and  is 
never  shorn.  The  sheep  are  in  all  respects  similar  to  those  raised  by  the 
Mexicans,  occasionally  one  being  seen  having  four  horns." 

He  also  refers  to  the  fact  that  conditions  were  very  adverse  to  sheep 
raising,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  winter  of  1855,  the  Navahos  were  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  country  north  of  Fort  Defiance  on  account  of  the 
cold  and  depth  of  the  snow,  which  prevented  their  sheep  from  grazing. 

Some  of  these  conditions  still  remain,  but  the  general  improvement 
of  the  life  of  the  Navahos  has  resulted  in  better  quarters  for  the  sheep  in 
bad  weather,  and,  in  special  cases  of  entire  lack  of  grazing  material,  hay  is 
purchased  for  their  sustenance. 

Another  grave  and  serious  difficulty  the  Navahos  have  had  to  contend 


FIG.  37. 
A  Navaho  Weave  of  Germantown  Yarn,- 

(Vroman   Collection.) 
A  fine  specimen. 


^ [PAGE    47] 


IMPROVING  THE  ART 


57 


with  for  many  years  has  been,  during  the  hot  summer  months,  that  they 
have  had  a  poor  supply  of  water.     As  Dr.  G.  H.  Pepper  once  wrote: 

This  scarcity  of  water  is  the  all-absorbing  topic  of  whites  as  well  as  natives  in 
the  great  Southwest.  There  are  spring  and  autumn  rains  or  showers,  as  a  rule, 
but  at  times  almost  a  year  will  pass  without  enough  water  falling  to  fill  the  pockets 
in  the  rocks;  at  such  times  the  Indian  endeavors  by  songs  and  dances  to  propitiate 
the  rain-gods  and  cause  them  to  let  fall  the  precious  liquid  that  they  are  withhold- 
ing; when  their  sheep  and  horses  are  dying  from  thirst  they  will  dance  continuously 
for  weeks  and  then,  in  despair,  make  a  forced  drive  across  the  fiery,  alkaline  plains 
to  the  mountains,  where  the  streams  will  furnish  what  the  gods  of  the  plains  will 
not;  but  in  such  a  drive  their  flocks  are  so  decimated  that  it  hardly  pays  to  make 
the  effort. 

Both  these  neglected  conditions  are  now  being  taken  hold  of  by  the 
Government,  through  the  Indian  Department,  in  a  most  effective  man- 
ner. Its  report  for  1911  shows  that  "at  the  last  dipping  the  Indians  of 
Pueblo  Bonita,  New  Mexico,  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand 
sheep  and  goats,"  and  that  those  of  the  Navaho  Agency  own  "well  in 
excess  of  five  hundred  thousand  sheep."  It  was  also  "  roughly  estimated 
that  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  Superintendency  at  Keams  Canyon, 
Arizona,  four  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  Navaho  blankets  were 
sold  in  the  year"  (1910). 

The  report  then  continues: 

A  plan  has  been  outlined  for  improving  the  breed  of  sheep  belonging  to  these 
Indians  by  the  introduction  from  time  to  time  of  a  limited  number  of  high-grade 
Rambouillet  and  Cotswold  rams  into  their  flocks,  with  the  hope  that  the  improve- 
ment in  the  native  sheep  may  be  so  apparent  that  the  Indians  of  these  reservations 
will,  of  their  own  volition,  adopt  methods  of  improving  their  flocks.  The  aim  is 
not  only  to  increase  the  size  of  these  animals  so  as  to  make  them  more  desirable 
for  mutton,  but  to  improve  the  quality  and  amount  of  the  wool  so  that  the  present 
clip  of  three  or  four  pounds  per  animal  may  be  increased  to  at  least  double  that 
amount. 

On  February  7,  8,  and  9,  1912,  a  conference  of  all  the  officials  of 
the  Indian  Department  on  the  Navaho  Agencies  was  held  at  Fort  Defi- 
ance, Arizona,  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  and  considering  various 
"subjects  and  problems  connected  with  the  welfare  of  the  Navaho.  It 
was  there  estimated  by  the  men  most  competent  to  judge  that  there  were 
then  1,429,821  sheep,  valued  at  $2,924,960,  and  318,955  goats,  valued 
at  $497,910,  owned  by  the  Navahos.  The  wool  clipped  from  the  native 
sheep  amounted  to  3,375,000  pounds,  valued  at  $429,375,  and  from  the 
graded  merino  sheep  293,463  pounds,  valued  at  $35>664-  Not  all  of 
this  wool  is  woven  by  the  Navahos  into  blankets.  Vast  quantities  are 
bought  by  the  traders  and  shipped  to  the  white  man's  woolen  mills,  but 


5 8  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  Department  estimated  that  in  1912,  843,750  pounds  of  native  wool 
was  woven  into  blankets.  The  output  of  blankets  for  the  year  was  esti- 
mated to  be,  from  native  wool,  $675,000,  and  from  Germantown  yarn, 
$36,000. 

As  far  as  the  water  supply  is  concerned,  the  situation  is  rapidly 
being  changed.  The  Hyde  Exploring  Expedition,  when  it  began  its  work 
in  Arizona,  relied  for  two  years  upon  the  surface  water  just  as  did  the 
Navahos,  but  the  third  year,  writes  Dr.  G.  H.  Pepper  in  1902: 

In  digging  a  reservoir  to  catch  the  seep  from  an  arroyo,  a  water-bearing  stratum 
was  reached;  below  this  there  was  a  layer  of  quicksand;  a  foot  deeper  we  came  to 
water-bearing  gravel  that  furnished  water  for  our  stock,  and  also  for  all  the  Indian 
stock  in  the  vicinity.  The  supply  seems  inexhaustible  and  on  feast  occasions  from 
200  to  300  head  of  stock  have  been  watered  there  in  a  single  day.  Navahos  travel 
for  miles  to  fill  their  kegs  from  this  pure  source  and  none  were  more  surprised 
than  they  when  it  was  first  discovered ;  this  is  not  an  isolated  case,  for  another  well, 
sunk  by  our  party  about  thirty  miles  distant  from  the  one  mentioned,  only  twenty- 
five  feet  deep,  supplied  enough  to  tide  over  a  very  dry  season  —  a  simple  illustration 
that  serves  to  show  what  the  government  might  do  to  help  the  Navahos. 

This  suggestion  was  carried  out,  and  in  the  year  1910  water  experts 
went  over  the  major  part  of  the  reservation  making  careful  observations 
and  surveys,  and  the  year  following  the  work  of  putting  in  wells  was 
actually  begun.  The  result  is  that  now  (spring  of  1914),  as  one  travels 
through  the  Navaho  country  he  sees,  every  now  and  again,  the  surprising 
spectacle  of  skeleton  steel  towers,  tanks,  and  pumps,  with  watering 
troughs,  around  which  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep  daily  congregate,  when 
other  water  supply  fails. 

The  intention  of  the  Government  is  to  continue  this  work  in  all 
parts  of  the  reservation  until  enough  wells  are  bored  to  insure  the  Navahos 
against  future  scarcity  of  water. 

No  chapter  dealing  with  the  improvement  of  the  art  of  Navaho 
blanket  weaving  would  be  complete  without  especial  reference  to  the  work 
of  one  man.  This  is  Mr.  W.  T.  Shelton,  the  founder  and  present  superin- 
tendent of  the  San  Juan  Agency  at  Shiprock,  New  Mexico.  Mr.  Shelton 
has  shown  a  greater  grasp  of  the  situation,  it  appears  to  me,  than  any 
other  man  in  the  whole  history  of  the  Indian  Service.  To  him  has  been 
largely  owing  the  furtherance  of  the  plan  for  providing  water  for  the 
Indians'  flocks  and  also  the  improvement  of  the  breed  of  their  stock. 
He  has  personally  purchased  several  high-bred  rams,  and  has  been  tire- 
less in  his  determination  to  inculcate  a  desire  for,  and  interest  the  Indians 
in,  improving  the  breed  of  their  animals. 

But  far  more  than  this,  in  1909  he  conceived  the  idea  of  holding 
a  fair  at  the  San  Juan  Agency  at  Shiprock  and  invited  not  only  the  Indians 


FIG.  38. 
Rare  Old  Moki  Pattern. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 

The  common  type  of  so-called   Moki   blankets  consists  usually   ?*_******  or 
brown  and  blue  stripe,  sometimes  alternated  with  white  stripes. 

[PAGE    S4l 


IMPROVING  THE  ART  59 

but  also  the  Indian  traders  of  the  district  to  make  as  extensive  exhibits 
as  possible  of  every  department  of  Navaho  industry.  To  attract  the 
Indians  he  offered  general  prizes  for  foot-races,  horse-races,  and  a  variety 
of  other  native  games.  He  also  let  it  be  known  that  there  would  be  no 
objections  to  the  Indians  indulging  in  some  of  their  own  sacred  dances, 
and  at  his  own  expense  he  secured  the  services  of  several  of  the  leading 
chanters,  as  the  head  medicine-men  or  dance-directors  are  known. 

This  fair  was  a  great  success,  although  it  only  foreshadowed  what 
its  possibilities  might  be.  Among  the  exhibits  there  were  two  hundred 
and  thirty  blankets  of  native  wool  and  twenty-five  Germantown  blankets. 

In  October,  1912,  the  fourth  fair  was  held,  and  four  times  as  many 
blankets  were  displayed  and  the  improvement  in  their  quality  was  remark- 
able. Thirteen  Indian  traders  were  represented,  but  all  of  these  allowed 
the  weavers  in  their  districts  to  make  their  own  exhibits,  so  that  the  Indians 
themselves  received  full  credit  in  person  as  well  as  the  prizes  which  were 
awarded  for  the  best  blankets. 

Personally  I  was  unable  to  be  present  at  this  fourth  Navaho  fair,  but 
I  arrived  at  the  Agency  a  few  weeks  afterwards.  I  saw  the  prize  blankets, 
and  they  confirmed  Father  Berard's  statement  that  as  fine  blankets  are 
being  made  today  as  ever  in  the  history  of  the  Navaho.  In  a  large  four- 
square enclosure,  substantial  wooden  booths  were  erected  with  abundant 
space  for  the  hanging  up  of  the  different  blankets,  and  he  who  saw  such  a 
display  as  this  for  the  first  time  must  have  fully  realized  that  under  such 
fostering  conditions  there  was  little  possibility  of  the  further  deterioration 
of  the  art. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  beneficial  effect  of  these  fairs,  and 
now  that  Mr.  Shelton  has  demonstrated  that  they  can  be  conducted  suc- 
cessfully, it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  will  be  started  in  other  parts  of  the 
reservation  so  that  every  weaver  thereon  may  have  the  benefit  of  these 
opportunities  for  comparison  and  suggestion. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Significance  and  Symbolism  of  Color  in  the  Navaho  Blanket 

T  T  was  to  be  expected  that  as  primitive  man  developed  the  weaving  art, 
•*•  the  introduction  of  color  into  his  textiles  would  suggest  itself.  Sur- 
rounded on  every  hand  by  vivid  brilliancies  of  color  —  in  the  gorgeous 
and  glowing  sunrises  and  sunsets,  in  the  dazzling  brilliancy  of  the  sun- 
shine upon  the  variegated  colorings  of  the  desert,  in  the  equally  impress- 
ive color-attractions  of  his  corn-fields,  the  wild  flowers,  the  birds,  reptiles, 
and  animals  with  which  he  daily  came  in  contact — he  could  scarcely  ignore 
their  insistent  intrusion. 

How  it  was  that  color  ultimately  came  to  have  a  distinct  symbolism 
in  the  Indian  mind  is  a  most  interesting  question,  and  one  upon  which, 
doubtless,  knowing  experts  of  the  white  race  would  have  great  and  wide 
diversity  of  opinion. 

On  this  question,  however,  W.  S.  Blatchley,  State  Geologist  of  Indi- 
ana, writes  some  interesting  and  important  things.  To  the  thinking 
reader  it  will  appear  remarkable  that  a  modern  scientist  should  reason 
things  out  and  come  to  the  same  kind  of  conclusions,  even  though  not 
exactly  the  same  conclusions,  that  were  reached  centuries  ago  by  the  so- 
called  savages  of  our  Western  Wilds.  Professor  Blatchley  says: 

The  "  Symbols  of  Nature's  Hues,"  is  a  theme  which  to  a  painter's  brush  or  a 
poet's  pen  should  yield  inspiration  noble.  Green  stands  for  youth,  for  cells  rich  in 
protoplasm  and  chlorophyll,  strong  in  the  power  of  storing  energy,  potent  in  the 
factor  of  growth.  For  that  reason  green  is  ever  welcome,  for  it  is  the  hue  of  promise, 
of  hope,  of  growth,  and  work,  of  life  yet  to  be,  of  crops  of  the  future.  It  is  the 
garb  of  springtime,  the  garb  in  which  Mother  Earth  delights  to  clothe  herself  after 
her  winter's  sleep. 

Yellow  and  blue,  orange,  and  red,  represent  maturity,  the  harvest  time. 
Growth  has  ceased.  Energy  is  stored.  Cells  are  full  of  starch  and  protein,  of  food 
and  power.  These  hues  should  also  stand  for  peace  and  content,  for  happiness  if 
it  is  ever  to  be — for  these  years  which  are  the  crowning  glory  of  a  life  well  spent. 

Brown  and  gray  are  sombre  colors,  hues  of  death  and  decay.  Too  often  they 
follow  the  green  of  youth  with  none  of  the  brighter  tints  intervening.  The  crop  is 
harvested  before  full  maturity.  The  seed  shrivels  and  shrinks.  Life  is  a  failure, 
a  succession  of  years  of  longing  for  that  which  never  comes,  which  never  can  be. 

Black  is  for  mourning,  for  despair,  for  grief  over  brown  and  gray,  for  the 
shroud  to  cover  their  faces,  hide  their  faults.  It  is  a  hue  seldom  seen  in  Nature 
for  her  days  and  years  are  full  of  promise,  too  precious  to  be  wasted  in  long  spent 
grief.  Green  and  the  hues  of  perfect  maturity  are  those  in  which  she  most  delights. 

60 


FIG.  39- 
Modern  Native  Wool  Navaho,  Best  Quality. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 


V 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  COLOR  61 

Browns  and  grays  and  blacks  are  for  her  waste  places,  her  deserts  and  mountain 
tops,  her  late  autumns  and  winters ;  greens  for  her  oases,  valleys,  and  prairies. 

White  is  for  innocence,  for  purity,  for  the  first  hours  of  the  new  born  plant 
and  animal,  for  the  mantle  which  shall  hide  the  black  despair  of  deepest  winter, 
but  which  shall  be  uplifted  to  disclose  the  first  glimpse  of  the  garb  of  green  which 
follows  the  great  awakening.* 

Thus  reasons  a  modern  scientist.  Let  us  look  at  and  compare  this 
with  the  reasoning  of  the  Navaho  Indians.  To  the  older  Indians,  who 
had  not  yet  become  sophisticated  by  contact  with  the  white  man,  color  was 
sacred  —  a  gift  of  the  best  of  their  gods,  and  it  was  also  symbolic.  Every 
color  meant  something;  it  was  not  a  mere  haphazard,  a  chance,  an  acci- 
dent. Red  is  the  color  of  the  sunshine,  hence  its  glorification  in  so  many 
Navaho  blankets.  In  the  early  days  one  could  scarcely  find  a  blanket 
which  did  not  contain  red  —  red,  red,  more  red,  much  red.  For  sunshine 
was  the  medium  in  which  the  Navaho  lived,  moved,  and  had  his  being. 
Sunshine  was  his  life.  Take  him  away  from  it  and  he  speedily  pined 
away  and  died.  It  was  his  daily  blessing,  his  stimulation,  the  source  of 
his  exhilaration,  his  joy.  Do  you  wonder,  then,  that  he  used  it  abundantly 
in  his  blanket,  that  he  wanted  to  wrap  himself  up  in  it  on  the  days  when 
the  dark  clouds  hid  the  real  sun,  sleep  on  it  during  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  cover  his  children  with  it  when  they  were  cold,  or  when  they  slept? 

When  one  realizes  this  fact  he  sees  that  the  Indian's  love  for  red  is 
not  a  mere  vagary,  a  whim,  a  fancy  of  the  eye,  a  barbaric  taste  in  the 
wildly  gorgeous,  a  flaunting  of  his  inability  to  appreciate  color,  but  a  keen 
and  grateful  recognition  of  one  of  the  greatest  gifts  of  the  gods  to  men  — 
the  warming,  vivifying,  fructifying,  life-giving  sun,  and  in  the  use  of  the 
color  of  the  sunshine  he  pays  a  subtle  compliment  to  the  gods. 

Red,  however,  is  but  one  of  the  colors,  and  the  Navaho  appreciates 
others,  and  the  reason  is  evident  when  one  understands  the  working  of 
his  mind. 

He  sees  in  the  East  the  white  light  of  the  morning,  hence  white  is 
always  symbolic  of  the  East.  The  cloudless  South  is  generally  blue,  hence 
blue  always  symbolizes  South.  The  sunset  in  the  West  is  so  often  char- 
acterized by  yellow  that  that  color  always  symbolizes  West,  while  from 
the  North  come  the  dark,  black  clouds,  hence  black  always  symbolizes 
North. 

Then,  by  a  symbolism  of  sex,  color  comes  also  to  have  a  sexual 
significance.  On  this  subject  Dr.  Matthews  writes  :f 

Of  two  things  which  are  nearly  alike,  or  otherwise  comparable,  it  is  common 
among  the  Navahos  to  speak  of  or  symbolize  the  one  which  is  the  coarser,  rougher, 

*  Woodland  Idyls,  pp.  47-48,  by  W.  S.  Blatchley ;  The  Nature  Publishing  Co.,  Indian- 
apolis. 

t  The  Night  Chant,  Memoirs  of  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Vol.  VI,  p.  6. 


62  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

stronger,  or  more  violent  as  the  male,  and  that  which  is  the  finer,  weaker,  or  more 
gentle  as  the  female.  Thus:  a  shower  accompanied  by  thunder  and  lightning  is 
called  ni'ltsabaka  or  he-rain,  while  a  shower  without  electrical  display  is  called 
ni'ltsabaad  or  she-rain;  the  turbulent  San  Juan  River  is  called  Tobaka  or  Male 
Water,  while  the  more  Placid  Rio  Grande  is  known  as  To'baad  or  Female  Water. 
Other  instances  of  this  kind  might  be  cited  from  the  vegetable  kingdom  and  other 
sources.  As  an  instance  of  this  principle  the  south,  and  the  color  of  the  south,  blue, 
belong  to  the  female;  the  north,  and  the  color  of  the  north,  black,  belong  to  the 
male.  The  north  is  assigned  to  the  male  because  it  is  to  the  Navahos  a  rough  and 
rigorous  land.  Not  only  do  inclement  and  violent  winds  come  from  the  north,  but 
the  country  north  of  Navaho-land  is  rugged  and  mountainous,  and  within  it  rise 
the  great  snow-covered  peaks  of  Colorado.  The  south  is  assigned  to  the  female 
because  gentle  and  warm  breezes  come  from  there,  and  bcause  the  landscape  south 
of  the  Navaho  country  is  tame  compared  to  that  of  the  north. 

Hence  in  the  preparation  of  his  Plumed  Wands  to  be  used  by  a 
shaman,  or  medicine  man,  in  certain  ceremonials,  those  which  are  to  rep- 
resent the  male  are  painted  black — the  color  of  the  North  —  and  these 
are  used  in  the  masculine  region,  the  North,  while  those  of  the  female 
are  painted  blue  —  the  color  of  the  South  —  and  are  used  for  the  South. 

Here  are  some  of  the  methods  invariably  followed  by  the  shamans 
to  denote  certain  specific  objects  and  thoughts,  in  which  color  and  design 
have  distinct  meaning: 

Red  on  a  black  or  dark  background  suggests  sunlight  on  the  back 
of  a  cloud,  and  on  some  of  the  masks  used  in  sacred  dances  borders  are 
made  of  the  feathers  of  red-tailed  woodpeckers  to  represent  rays  of  sun- 
light streaming  out  at  the  edge  of  a  cloud. 

On  many  of  the  masks  used  in  their  ceremonies  there  is  a  yellow 
streak  at  the  chin,  crossed  with  black  lines,  to  symbolize  rain  and  the 
evening  sky.  Rain  is  commonly  represented  by  eight  vertical  lines, 
painted  black. 

The  rainbow  is  a  hard  symbol  to  produce  in  any  textile  material 
owing  to  the  geometrical  necessities  of  weaving,  but  the  attempt  is  often 
made,  generally  in  four  colors. 

In  the  sand-paintings  rainbows  are  symbolized  in  two  different  ways, 
for  they  are  regarded  as  of  two  different  origins  and  entities.  Sometimes 
they  are  the  trails,  the  paths  of  the  gods  in  the  heavens,  and  at  other 
times  they  are  the  gods  themselves.  When  it  is  desired  to  represent 
them  as  symbols  of  the  former  they  are  supposedly  made  in  five  lines  of 
color,  though  generally  only  red  and  blue  are  used,  with  dividing  and 
border  lines  of  white  —  thus  making  the  five. 

As  a  deity  the  rainbow  is  regarded  as  female  for  the  reasons 
explained  in  the  references  to  the  symbolism  of  sex.  And  as  there  are 
five  colors  (to  the  Navaho)  in  the  rainbow,  some  of  their  medicine-men 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  COLOR  63 

affirm  that  each  color  represents  a  different  individual.  Hence,  accord- 
ing to  this  theory,  there  are  five  rainbow  goddesses. 

They  say  the  bows  are  covered  with  feathers,  which  give  the  colors. 
In  the  dry-paintings,  the  rainbow  is  usually  depicted  with  a  head  at  one 
end,  and  legs  and  feet  at  the  other.  The  head  is  always  square,  to  show 
that  it  is  a  female.  Three  colors  only  have  been  seen  in  the  body  of  the 
bow,  which  is  red  and  blue,  bordered  with  white.  In  some  sweat-house 
decorations,  the  rainbow  symbol  is  shown  with  a  head  at  each  end,  indi- 
cating that  each  separate  band  of  color  represents  a  separate  goddess. 

In  many  of  the  sand-paintings,  where  the  gods  are  represented  and 
their  legs  are  drawn  (some  are  covered  with  skirts  so  they  cannot  be 
drawn),  they  are  girded  with  rainbow  garters.  These  are  invariably  the 
parallel  lines  of  color,  supposedly  five,  though  generally  red  and  blue 
are  used,  separated  and  also  banded  on  the  outside  with  white,  thus 
forming  the  five  lines. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  you  will  never  see  a  Navaho  point 
to  a  rainbow,  or  a  rainbow  symbol,  with  his  finger.  To  do  this  would  be 
unlucky  and  be  sure  to  result  in  the  coming  of  a  felon  on  the  offending 
member.  He  always  points  at  it  with  his  thumb. 

In  making  the  prayer-sticks,  hundreds  of  which  sometimes  are  used 
in  a  single  Navaho  ceremony,  this  symbolism  of  color  comes  into  play. 
Those  that  are  to  be  placed  to  the  East  are  made  of  mountain  mahogany 
(Cercocarpus  parvifolius)  ;  those  to  be  South  of  a  shrub  called  coyote- 
corn  (Fores  tier  a  neomexicana)  ;  those  to  the  West  of  juniper  (Juniperus 
occidentalis}  ;  and  those  to  the  North  of  cherry  (Prunus  demissa). 
Dr.  Matthews  says  of  these: 

Mountain  mahogany  is  probably  selected  for  the  east,  because  its  abundant 
plumose  white  styles  give  the  shrub  a  whitish  aspect  and  white  is  the  color  of  the 
east.  .Forestiera  may  be  chosen  for  the  south  because  its  small  olive-shaped  fruit 
is  blue,  the  color  of  the  south.  Juniper  is  perhaps  taken  for  the  west  because  its 
outer  branchlets  and  leaves  have,  in  the  arid  region,  a  tone  of  yellow,  which  is  the 
color  of  the  west.  Cherry  seems  to  be  adopted  for  the  north  because  the  fruit  of 
Prunus  demissa,  the  common  wild  cherry  of  New  Mexico,  ripens  black,  and  black 
is  the  color  of  the  north.* 

Those  who  have  observed  the  ceremonies  of  the  Navahos  doubt- 
less have  been  struck  with  the  frequency  of  the  appearance  and  use  of  the 
long  cotton-string.  It  is  used  on  the  prayer-sticks,  attached  to  the  prayer- 
plumes,  the  sacred  cigarettes,  etc.  The  white  cotton  string  represents 
the  bike-hozoni,  the  beautiful  or  happy  trail  of  life,  so  often  mentioned 
in  the  Navahos'  songs  and  prayers,  which  the  devotee  hopes,  with  the 
aid  of  the  gods,  to  travel.  "  With  all  around  me  beautiful,  may  I  walk," 

*  The  Night  Chant. 


64  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

say  the  prayers,  and  for  this  reason  the  string  passes  through  beautiful 
beads,  which,  by  their  colors,  symbolize  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the 
compass.  "With  beauty  above  me,  may  I  walk,"  "With  beauty  below 
me,  may  I  walk,"  are  again  the  words  of  the  prayers;  so  the  string 
includes  feather  and  hair  of  the  turkey,  a  bird  of  the  earth,  and  of  the 
eagle,  a  bird  of  the  sky.  "  My  voice  restore  for  me,"  "  Make  beautiful 
my  voice,"  are  expressions  of  the  prayers  and  to  typify  these  sentiments 
the  string  includes  feathers  of  warbling  birds  whose  voices  "  flow  in  glad- 
ness" as  the  Navaho  song  says. 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  color  has  a  definite  symbolism  to  the 
Navaho  and  that  everything  connected  with  it  is  sacred  and  significant. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Dyeing  With  Native  and  Aniline  Dyes 

T  N  Chapter  VII,  dealing  with  the  Bayeta  Blanket,  I  deemed  it  advisable 
A  to  introduce,  ahead  of  this  chapter,  considerable  information  about 
the  dyeing  of  bayetas  and  pellons.  It  will  be  well,  therefore,  for  the 
reader  who  wishes  a  full  grasp  of  this  part  of  the  subject  to  turn  again 
to  that  chapter. 

That  dyeing  is  a  primitive  art  the  earliest  books  clearly  reveal.  In 
the  Book  of  Exodus,  25  14,  5,  we  are  told  that  Moses  was  instructed  to  re- 
quire the  children  of  Israel  to  bring  certain  gifts  for  the  erection  of  a 
tabernacle,  and  among  them  are  enumerated  "rams'  skins  dyed  red,"  to- 
gether with  blue,  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen.  Isaiah  cries  out  (Is. 
63  :i)  :  "Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from 
Bozrah?"  and  in  the  next  verse  suggests  how  the  art  of  dyeing  may  have 
had  its  origin:  "Wherefore  are  thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and  thy  garments 
like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  winefat?"  Just  so  soon  as  garments  began 
to  be  worn,  aye,  even  before  then,  the  stain  upon  body  and  fleece,  skin, 
hair,  or  texture  must  have  suggested  the  idea  of  ability  to  change  color 
by  staining  with  fruit  juices,  the  juices  of  nuts,  skins,  plants,  leaves,  etc. 
And  the  idea  once  in  the  mind  of  the  primitive  man  or  woman  it  would 
not  require  much  experience  to  fix  it  permanently  for  the  future  benefit 
of  the  race. 

The  Tinnehs  of  Alaska,  of  which  family  the  Navahos  are  a  branch, 
have  used  a  few  dyes  from  time  immemorial,  as  their  colored  buckskins, 
blankets,  and  baskets  clearly  show.  Hence  it  may  be  assumed  that  a  crude 
and  simple  knowledge  of  the  art  was  possessed  by  the  first  Navahos  who 
settled  where  they  are  now  found.  Then  contact  with  the  Pueblos,  and, 
later,  with  the  Mexicans,  stimulated  their  knowledge,  and  when  they 
once  began  to  weave  after  the  Pueblo  fashion  their  improvement  in  the 
art  of  dyeing  was  assured. 

There  is  a  general  cry  of  regret  today  that  the  art  as  followed  by 
the  Navahos  of  as  late  as  fifty  years  ago,  or,  in  a  few  isolated  cases,  even 
twenty  years  ago,  has  been  lost,  and  that  aniline  dyes  are  substituted  for 
the  native  ones. 

But  the  question  of  native  Navaho  dyes  versus  aniline  or  some  form 

65 


66  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

of  modern  dyes  is  settled  forever  by  laws  over  which  the  purchaser  prac- 
tically has  no  control.  I  say  "  practically,"  for  undoubtedly  were  the  pur- 
chasers of  Navaho  blankets  to  "arise  in  their  might"  and  as  one  man 
demand  no  other  than  native  dyes  they  would  get  them.  But  it  is  imprac- 
tical, impossible,  to  get  them  to  make  such  a  demand,  and  therefore  by 
the  very  force  of  simple  acquiescence  in  a  fact  that  cannot  be  helped  the 
native  dye  is  disappearing — nay,  has  already  practically  disappeared. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  this  affirmation  that,  in  the  main,  the  question  of 
native  versus  modern  dyes  is  forever  settled,  efforts  are  being  made  by 
white  friends  of  the  Navaho  to  materially  improve  his  present  methods 
of  dyeing.  Col.  J.  S.  Lockwood,  president  of  the  Indian  Industries 
League,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  is  seeking  to  interest  the  Indian 
Department  in  the  putting  up  of  modern,  scientific,  and  well-equipped 
wool-scouring  and  dyeing  plants  on  the  Navaho  reservation,  where  the 
wool  of  the  native  sheep  may  be  thoroughly  washed,  cleaned,  deodorized, 
and  then  dyed  with  superior  and  reliable  dyes  and  mordants.  I  believe 
this  would  be  a  decided  step  in  advance  and  of  material  benefit  to  the  art 
and  to  the  Navahos.  There  will  naturally  be  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  Indians,  and  it  will  take  patience  and  wisdom  to  overcome  this. 
Navahos  are  conservative  to  a  high  degree,  though,  as  I  have  shown  in 
Chapter  IX;  they  are  beginning  to  be  reasonably  alert  to  all  plans  that 
seek  their  material  advancement  and  increased  prosperity. 

Colonel  Lockwood  urges  also  that  when  blankets  are  woven  with 
yarns  thus  properly  prepared,  the  Indian  Department  should  place  seals 
upon  them  as  guarantees  both  to  traders  and  private  purchasers. 

In  regard  to  the  old  native  dyes  there  are,  perhaps,  half  a  dozen 
weavers  on  the  whole  reservation  today — perhaps  more,  possibly  less  — 
who  retain  all  the  secrets  and  are  willing  to  go  to  the  trouble  to  dye  the 
wool  with  them  and  thus  produce  a  "native  wool,  native  dyed,  native 
woven"  blanket. 

Fortunately,  however,  the  methods  were  observed  by  intelligent  and 
recording  white  men  in  time  to  save  the  art  from  being  lost,  and  from 
their  writings  the  following  account  is  compiled.  The  name  of  each 
author,  unless  otherwise  stated,  is  placed  in  brackets  at  the  end  of  each 
quotation : 

In  preparing  the  wool  for  dyeing,  it  is  picked  apart  and  the  tangled  masses  are 
loosened,  but,  as  a  rule,  there  is  no  washing  done.  To  most  students  of  weaving, 
especially  those  who  have  become  interested  in  the  art  of  dyeing,  it  would  seem  that, 
in  omitting  the  washing  of  the  wool  one  of  the  essentials  had  been  overlooked.  In 
fact,  many  dyers  insist  that  upon  the  quality  of  the  water  used  depends  the  success 
of  the  work,  and  they,  therefore,  use  nothing  but  soft  water.  The  scarcity  of  water 
in  the  Navaho  country  is  responsible  for  this  seeming  negligence  on  the  part  of  the 


DYEING  WITH  NATIVE  AND  ANILINE  DYES          67 

blanket  maker.  But,  in  judging  these  worthy  people  we  must  remember  that  the 
wool  of  the  Navaho  sheep  is  not  greasy  as  is  that  of  the  merinos  and  many  other 
sheep  and  therefore  does  not  require  the  elaborate  washing  and  scouring  that  must 
be  undergone  ere  the  ordinary  wool  is  workable.  The  Navaho  herdsmen  are  par- 
ticularly careful  about  keeping  their  sheep  from  crossing  with  the  merinos  of  the 
Mexicans,  as  they  realize  that  the  merino  wool  cannot  be  washed  or  bleached  and 
that  the  use  of  the  wool  in  its  natural  state  causes  unsightly  streaks  in  their  blan- 
kets. These  streaks  not  only  detract  from  the  aesthetic  appearance  of  their  produc- 
tions but  cause  a  depreciation  in  value. 

For  making  native  dyes  the  Navaho  dyer  needs  the  vegetable  and  mineral  ingre- 
dients required  for  the  specific  dyes;  a  pot  in  which  to  make  the  decoction  of  barks, 
flowers,  twigs  or  roots,  for  which  their  own  native  pots  are  preferred,  probably 
because  the  acid  of  the  mordants  will  not  act  chemically  upon  earthen  vessels  as  it 
will  upon  tin  or  iron;  a  skillet,  or  frying  pan,  to  prepare  certain  of  the  ingredients, 
and  a  few  thin,  slender  sticks  to  immerse  the  wool  with,  or  take  it  out  of  the  dye, 
and  to  spread  it  out  to  dry. 

Each  dye  consists  of  at  least  two  ingredients,  a  coloring  matter  and  a  mordant, 
usually  some  acid  substance  to  fix  the  color  fast. —  [Berard.]  \ 

The  black  dye  is  made  of  the  leaves  and  twigs  of  the  aromatic  sumac  (Rhus 
aromatica),  a  native  yellow  ochre,  and  the  gum  of  the  pinion  (Pinus  edulus).  The 
process  of  preparing  it  is  as  follows:  They  put  into  a  pot  of  water  some  of  the  leaves 
of  the  sumac  and  as  many  of  the  branchlets  as  can  be  crowded  in  without  much 
breaking  or  crushing,  and  the  water  is  allowed  to  boil  for  five  or  six  hours  until  a 
strong  decoction  is  made.  While  the  water  is  boiling  they  attend  to  other  parts  of 
the  process.  The  ochre  is  reduced  to  a  fine  powder  between  two  stones,  and  then 
slowly  roasted  over  the  fire  in  an  earthen  or  metal  vessel  until  it  assumes  a  light- 
brown  color ;  it  is  then  taken  from  the  fire  and  combined  with  about  an  equal  quantity 
in  size  of  pinion  gum;  again  the  mixture  is  put  on  the  fire  and  constantly  stirred. 
At  first  the  gum  melts  and  the  whole  mass  assumes  a  mushy  consistence;  but  as  the 
roasting  progresses  it  gradually  becomes  drier  and  darker  until  it  is  at  last  reduced 
to  a  fine  black  powder.  This  is  removed  from  the  fire,  and  when  it  has  cooled 
somewhat  it  is  thrown  into  the  decoction  of  sumac,  with  which  it  instantly  forms  a 
rich,  blue-black  fluid.  This  dye  is  essentially  an  ink,  the  tannic  acid  of  the  sumac 
combining  with  the  sesquioxide  of  iron  in  the  roasted  ochre,  the  whole  enriched  by 
the  carbon  of  the  calcined  gum. 

There  are,  the  Indians  tell  me,  three  different  processes  for  dyeing  yellow;  two 
of  these  I  have  witnessed.  The  first  process  is  thus  conducted:  The  flowering  tops 
of  Bigelovia  graveolens  are  boiled  for  about  six  hours  until  a  decoction  of  deep  yel- 
low color  is  produced.  When  the  dyer  thinks  the  decoction  strong  enough,  she  heats 
over  the  fire  in  a  pan  or  earthen  vessel  some  native  almogen  (an  impure  native  alum), 
until  it  is  reduced  to  a  somewhat  pasty  consistency;  this  she  adds  gradually  to  the 
decoction  and  then  puts  the  wool  in  the  dye  to  boil.  From  time  to  time  a  portion 
of  the  wool  is  taken  out  and  inspected  until  (in  about  half  an  hour  from  the  time  it 
is  first  immersed)  it  is  seen  to  have  assumed  the  proper  color.  The  work  is  then 
done.  The  tint  produced  is  nearly  that  of  lemon  yellow.  In  the  second  process  they 
use  the  large  fleshy  root  of  a  plant  which,  as  I  have  never  yet  seen  it  in  fruit  or 
flower,  I  am  unable  to  determine.  The  fresh  root  is  crushed  to  a  soft  paste  on  the 
metate,  and,  for  a  mordant,  the  almogen  is  added  while  the  grinding  is  going  on. 
The  cold  paste  is  then  rubbed  between  the  hands  into  the  wool.  If  the  wool  does 


68  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

not  seem  to  take  the  color  readily  a  little  water  is  dashed  on  the  mixture  of  wool  and 
paste,  and  the  whole  is  very  slightly  warmed.  The  whole  process  does  not  occupy 
over  an  hour,  and  the  result  is  a  color  much  like  that  now  known  as  "  old  gold." 

The  reddish  dye  is  made  of  the  bark  of  Alnus  incana  var.  virescens  (Watson), 
and  the  bark  of  the  root  of  Cercocarpus  parvifolius;  the  mordant  being  fine  juniper 
ashes.  On  buckskin  this  makes  a  brilliant  tan  color;  but  applied  to  wool  it  produces 
a  much  paler  tint.  —  [Matthews.'] 

Father  Berard's  descriptions  are  as  follows: 

Black.  —  To  make  this  dye  the  twigs,  with  leaves  and  berries  of  tsilchin,  or  kif 
are  gathered  and  crumpled  together  into  small  bunches.  A  pot  of  water  is  put  over 
the  fire  and  as  many  of  the  bunches  as  possible  crowded  into  it.  This  is  brought  to 
boil  and  allowed  to  continue  so  for  from  five  to  six,  or  more  hours,  when  a  strong 
decoction  is  obtained. 

While  the  twigs,  leaves  and  berries  are  boiling  some  pinion  gum  (je)  is  put  into 
a  skillet  and  allowed  to  melt  over  a  slow  fire.  When  melted  it  is  strained  to  remove 
dirt  and  other  impurities,  replaced  in  the  skillet,  and  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  heat. 
Then  some  native  ochre  (tsekho),  which  has  been  powdered  between  two  stones,  and 
roasted  to  a  light  brown  color,  is  slowly  added  to  the  hot  gum.  The  pasty  mass  which 
results  from  this  mixture  must  be  constantly  stirred,  since  it  will  be  spoiled  if  allowed 
to  burn.  Great  care  must  also  be  taken  that  the  mass  does  not  catch  fire,  since  the 
pinion  gum  or  pitch  is  inflammable,  for  that  would  spoil  the  whole  mass,  and  the 
work  would  have  to  be  begun  anew.  While  thus  seething  and  being  stirred  over  the 
fire  the  pasty  mass  gradually  yields  up  its  moisture,  becomes  dryer  and  dryer,  until 
finally  a  fine  black  powder  remains.  This  powder,  after  cooling  off  somewhat,  is 
thrown  into  the  decoction  of  sumac,  with  which  it  readily  combines,  and  forms  a  rich 
blue-black  fluid.  This  continues  to  boil  for  about  a  half-hour  when  the  wool  is 
immersed  in  it,  allowed  to  boil  a  short  time,  and  then  taken  out.  The  color  pro- 
duced by  this  dye  is  a  jet  black,  and  is  still  used  for  dyeing  yarn,  buckskin  and  women's 
dresses.  It  is  a  very  fast  color  and  never  fades. 

Yellow.  —  The  flowering  tops  of  kiltsoi,  gold  rod,  Bigelovia,  of  which  several 
species  grow  in  the  Navaho  country,  are  boiled  for  about  six  hours,  until  a  decoction 
of  a  deep  yellow  is  produced.  When  the  dyer  thinks  the  decoction  is  strong  enough 
she  heats  over  a  fire,  in  a  pan  or  earthen  vessel,  some  native  almogen  called  tse  dokozh, 
saline  rock,  a  kind  of  native  alum  or  salt  rock,  until  it  is  reduced  to  a  somewhat  pasty 
consistency.  This  she  adds  from  time  to  time  to  the  decoction,  and  then  puts  the 
wool  in  the  dye  to  boil.  Ever  and  anon  she  inspects  the  wool,  until  in  about  one  half 
hour  from  the  time  it  was  first  immersed  it  is  seen  to  have  assumed  the  proper  color. 
The  tint  produced  is  nearly  that  of  lemon  color. 

Another  process  of  making  a  yellow  is  a  decoction  of  the  root  of  a  plant  called 
chantini,  or  jatini,  with  tse  dokozh,  native  alum  or  salt  rock.  Chatini  is  a  plant, 
or  rather  a  weed,  belonging  to  the  Pogonaceae,  or  buckwheat  family,  of  the  species 
Rumex  hymenosepalum,  and  Dr.  G.  H.  Pepper  says  it  "  is  commonly  known  as 
canaigre" 

The  process  is  then  described  almost  in  the   exact  words  of  Dr. 
Matthews  quoted  above. 

Red. — This  is  a  purely  vegetable  dye,  all  the  ingredients  being  plants  or  parts  of 
plants.  To  make  this  dye  the  woman  first  burns  some  twigs  of  the  juniper  tree, 


DYEING  WITH  NATIVE  AND  ANILINE  DYES          69 

(Juniperus  occidentalis) ,  called  gad.  The  roots  of  tseesdazi,  (Cercocarpus  parvi- 
folius),  a  kind  of  mountain  mahogany,  are  crushed  and  boiled.  To  this  is  added 
the  juniper  ashes  and  the  powdered  bark  of  the  black  alder,  (Alnus  incana  var. 
virescens)  known  as  kish,  together  with  a  plant  called  nibadlad,  a  moss  which  acts  as 
a  mordant.  After  the  mixture  has  boiled  until  it  is  thought  to  be  right  it  is  strained 
and  the  WTOO!  or  yarn  is  soaked  in  it  over  night.  The  result  is  a  fine  red  color. 

The  dull  reddish  dye  is  made  of  the  powdered  bark  of  kish  and  the  root  bark  of 
tseesdazi,  which  makes  a  fine  tan  color  on  buckskin,  but  produces  a  rather  pale  shade 
on  wool. 

In  former  years  the  Navaho  had  a  native  blue  made  of  adishtlish,  a  kind  of  blue 
clay  which  was  pulverized  and  boiled  with  sumac  (ki)  leaves  to  obtain  a  mordant. 
Later  this  was  entirely  superseded  by  indigo  (beediltish)  obtained  from  Mexicans. 
Urine,  preserved  in  large  Zuni  pots,  was  used  as  a  mordant  into  which  the  indigo 
was  poured  and  the  wool  dipped.  This  was  then  allowed  to  stand  from  five  to  ten 
days,  after  which  it  was  removed  from  the  vessel  and  after  drying  was  ready  for  use. 

Here  are  Dr.  G.  H.  Pepper's  descriptions: 

The  native  yellow  dye,  Kay-el-soey  Bay-toll,  in  common  use  when  the  traders 
entered  the  Navaho  country,  was  made  from  the  flowering  tops  of  the  Rabbit  weed 
or  bush,  Kay-el-soey,  (Bigelovia  graveolens).  This  plant  is  a  member  of  the  aster 
family  and  grows  on  the  open  prairies.  It  has  a  slender  stalk  which  is  crowned  by  a 
mass  of  yellow  blossoms.  It  grows  in  clumps,  as  a  rule,  and  there  are  three  or  four 
varieties  in  the  Southwest.  The  flower-clusters  are  gathered  and  placed  in  a  large  pot 
containing  water.  This  is  allowed  to  boil  from  four  to  six  hours.  During  the  boiling 
the  squaw  places  native  alum,  Say-doh-kans,  almogen,  in  a  frying  pan  and  heats  it  until 
it  is  reduced  to  a  pasty  consistency.  When  the  boiling  has  extracted  the  juices  from 
the  weed,  the  alum,  which  is  to  act  as  a  mordant,  is  added.  The  liquid  is  now  ready 
for  the  reception  of  the  wool. 

In  dyeing  the  wool  with  the  yellow  decoction,  it  is  placed  in  the  pot  of  boiling 
liquid  and  allowed  to  boil  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  after  which  it  is  tested  every 
few  minutes  until  it  has  assumed  the  color  desired.  The  tints  obtained  from  this  dye 
range  from  a  canary  yellow  to  an  old  gold,  and  even  an  olive  green  may  be  produced. 

The  only  native  dyes  that  are  used  by  the  Navahos  at  the  present  time  are  the 
red  and  black.  These  are  used  for  dyeing  the  buckskin  uppers  of  their  moccasins. 
Machine-made  shoes  of  the  white  man  are  being  used  to  such  an  extent,  however,  that 
a  few  years  will  suffice  to  stamp  out  the  last  vestiges  of  a  once  popular  and  worthy 
industry. 

In  preparing  the  red  dye  for  moccasins  or  any  other  article  of  buckskin,  the 
process  is  as  follows: 

First  a  large  rock  is  dusted  and  on  it  a  fire  is  built.  The  sticks  used  for  the  fire 
are  branches  of  the  Juniper  tree  (Juniperus  occidentalis),  called  by  the  Navahos,  Kot. 
Branches  of  this  material  are  added  from  time  to  time  until  enough  ashes  have 
accumulated.  The  fire  is  then  allowed  to  burn  out.  All  of  the  ashes,  Kot  Deed-lit, 
are  collected  and  placed  in  a  cloth  which  is  rolled  up  and  put  aside.  The  squaw  now 
attends  to  the  preparation  of  the  other  ingredients. 

Roots  of  the  Mountain  mahogany,  Say-es-tozzie  B  ay-he  ck-klohl,  (Cercocarpus 
parvifolius),  are  gathered  and  stripped  of  their  bark  by  a  pounding  process.  For  this 
work  a  flat  stone  and  a  hand  hammer-stone  are  used.  The  root-bark,  Say-es-tozzie 


7o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Bay-heck-klohl  Bo-coggy  is  loosened  by  continued  pounding  and  is  then  rolled  from 
the  roots.  The  bark  is  the  only  part  retained,  the  roots  themselves  being  devoid  of 
color-bearing  matter.  When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  root-bark  has  been  prepared  it 
is  placed  in  a  kettle  of  water  and  allowed  to  boil  for  several  hours. 

While  the  root-bark  is  boiling  the  squaw  brings  forth  from  her  bundles  of  house- 
hold goods  a  number  of  pieces  of  the  Black  Alder,  Kish,  (Alnus  incana  var.  virescens.) 
In  many  parts  of  the  reservation  this  material  must  be  brought  from  a  distance  and, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  principal  ingredients,  it  is  carefully  prepared.  A  large  buckskin  is 
spread  upon  the  floor  of  the  hogan  and  upon  it  a  stone  slab  is  placed.  The  squaw  now 
assumes  a  kneeling  posture  and,  with  a  combination  hammer  and  grinding  stone,  pro- 
ceeds to  reduce  the  bark  to  a  powder.  The  first  step  is  to  break  the  bark  into  small 
pieces.  This  is  done  by  means  of  a  gentle  pounding  with  the  hammer  end  of  the  stone. 
As  the  bark  is  very  brittle,  care  must  be  taken,  as  the  pieces  are  to  be  kept  from  flying 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  buckskin,  hence  the  hammer  strokes  are  short  ones  and  are 
more  in  the  form  of  a  crushing  movement  than  of  a  blow.  When  the  bark  has  been 
reduced  to  small  pieces,  the  hammer  end  of  the  stone  is  again  brought  into  play,  this 
time  as  a  pulverizer.  The  accumulated  pieces  of  bark  are  made  still  smaller  and  then 
the  hand-stone  is  reversed.  The  flat  side  is  thus  brought  into  use  and  the  last  process, 
that  of  grinding,  is  begun.  The  bark  is  reduced  to  a  powder  in  the  same  manner  as 
corn  is  made  into  meal,  the  work  being  done,  at  times,  on  a  regular  meal  metate.  The 
powdered  bark  is  now  swept  into  a  pile  and  transferred  from  the  buckskin  to  a  piece 
of  cloth  and  placed  beside  the  juniper  ashes. 

When  the  root-bark  decoction  Say-es-tozzie  Bay-toh  is  ready  for  use,  the  small 
ash-twigs  that  have  retained  their  shape  are  separated  from  the  fine  ashes  and  placed 
in  a  can  into  which  some  of  the  liquid  from  the  boiled  root-bark  has  been  poured. 
These  are  allowed  to  remain  about  ten  minutes,  then  the  pieces  that  have  not  dis- 
solved are  removed. 

Everything  in  the  way  of  preparation  having  been  attended  to,  the  work  of  dyeing 
is  begun  by  placing  the  piece  of  buckskin  that  is  to  be  treated,  upon  a  smooth  sur- 
face of  the  sandy  floor.  The  juniper  ashes  are  the  first  to  be  applied.  They  are 
sprinkled  upon  the  surface  and  rubbed  in  with  the  hands.  Small  pinches  of  this 
material  are  added  from  time  to  time  until  the  entire  surface  has  been  uniformly  pre- 
pared. The  mahogany-root-bark-liquid  is  now  poured  upon  the  skin  and  worked  into 
it  with  the  fingers.  The  surface  of  the  skin  is  also  roughened  with  the  nails.  This 
rubbing  and  scratching  continues  until  enough  liquid  has  been  applied  to  almost 
saturate  the  skin.  The  powdered  alder  bark  is  the  next  to  be  applied.  It  is  put  on  in 
the  form  of  a  thick  layer  and  the  skin  is  kneaded  and  patted  until  the  bark  combines 
with  the  liquid.  A  thin  layer  of  bark  is  now  sprinkled  upon  the  skin  and  upon  this 
is  poured  the  liquid  obtained  by  mixing  the  juniper  ashes  with  the  mahogany  root-bark 
extracts.  A  final  patting  and  rubbing  ensues  and  the  buckskin  is  then  rolled  up  and,  in 
an  absolutely  saturated  condition,  is  put  aside  to  dry. 

The  color  resulting  from  this  process  is  a  dull  red.  It  gives  a  very  satisfactory 
color  when  applied  to  the  buckskin,  but  it  cannot  be  used  to  dye  wool.  It  has  been 
tried,  but  the  resulting  color  is  too  light  a  red  to  be  used  for  blanket  work. 

The  black  dye,  Eel-gee  Bay-toh,  is  used  for  both  buckskin  and  wool.  In  pre- 
paring this  dye  a  fire  of  greasewood  branches  is  started  and  upon  it  a  pot  of  water  is 
placed.  While  this  is  heating,  twigs  and  leaves  of  the  Aromatic  Sumac,  Key  (Rhus 
aromatica),  are  twisted  into  bunches.  These  bunches  average  about  six  inches  in  length 
and  with  them  the  pot  is  filled.  They  are  allowed  to  boil  from  five  to  six  hours.  Dur- 


DYEING  WITH  NATIVE  AND  ANILINE  DYES          71 

ing  this  time  a  second  fire  is  built.  Yellow  ochre  Tset  Koomph,  is  powdered  by 
grinding  and  is  then  roasted  in  a  frying  pan.  The  roasting  turns  the  ochre  to  a  dull 
red  color.  A  portion  of  pinion  gum,  Jayf  the  gum  of  the  Pinus  edulis,  equal  in 
quantity  to  that  of  the  ochre,  is  added.  The  mass  soon  assumes  a  pasty  form,  but  it  is 
stirred  constantly  until  the  gum  carbonizes  and  combines  with  the  ochre,  thereby 
forming  a  black  powder.  The  bundles  of  twigs  are  taken  from  the  pot  and  the  con- 
tents of  the  frying  pan  are  dumped  into  the  dark  colored  extract  of  the  sumac,  Key 
Bay-toh.  The  pot  is  allowed  to  remain  on  the  fire,  and  after  the  powder  is  added, 
the  boiling  continues  for  fully  half  an  hour.  The  wool  is  then  introduced,  allowed  to 
boil,  and  the  dyeing  is  complete. 

As  the  Navahos  have  the  natural  black  wool  it  is  generally  used  for  the  black 
designs  of  blankets.  It  is  tinged  with  red,  however,  and  is  therefore  almost  always 
dyed  before  being  used. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Origin  and  Symbolism  of  Navaho  Blanket  Designs 

FROM  what  has  been  presented  in  earlier  chapters  it  will  be  evident 
to   the  casual   reader  that  the  Navahos   are   a   very   symbol-loving 
people.    As  we  have  seen,  they  have  a  symbolism  of  color,  a  symbolism  of 
sex,  symbolism  in  the  adornment  of  the  representations  of  their  gods,  and 
symbols   for  almost  every  natural   object  connected  with   weather  and 
meteorological  phenomena.     Hence  it  may  not  be  altogether  too  great  an 
assumption  that  in  their  blanketry  the  older  weavers  followed  this  tribal 
law  or  custom,   and,  while  inserting  certain  symbols  in  their  blankets, 
attached  thereto  certain  personal  meanings  or  interpretations. 
Father  Berard,  however,  does  not  think  so.    He  says: 

There  is  no  system  as  to  the  use  of  the  different  figures;  that  is,  they  are  not 
arranged  into  any  kind  of  hieroglyphic  order  by  which  a  woman  could  weave  her 
life's  history,  or  any  other  history  or  story,  into  the  blanket,  as  has  been  asserted  by 
some  writers.  The  Navaho  blanket,  therefore,  is  a  human  document  only  in  so  far 
as  it  shows  the  untiring  patience  and  diligence,  the  exquisite  taste  and  deftness,  of  a 
semi-barbaric  people,  and  the  high  art  and  quality  of  their  work,  wrought  with  such 
simple  tools  and  materials. 

As  applied  to  the  modern  blanket,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  this 
dictum  is  correct.  The  Navahos  design  in  accordance  with  the  known 
wishes  of  the  trader,  and  often  make  alterations  and  combinations  of 
design  to  please  him.  It  necessarily  follows,  therefore,  that  designs  thus 
tampered  or  played  with  cannot  have  any  especial  significance  or  inter- 
pretation to  the  weaver,  except  that  so  much  work,  so  well  done,  in  so 
many  days,  will  mean  the  receipt  of  so  much  cash,  or  groceries,  or  other 
commodities.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  purely  commercial  proposition. 

Yet  as  this  subject  is  of  far  deeper  significance  than  most  students 
comprehend,  I  feel  that  I  owe  the  readers  of  this  volume  a  very  clear 
statement  as  to  my  position  upon  it.  For  what  I  have  written  upon  the 
symbolism  of  designs  in  the  baskets  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  South- 
west has  not  only  been  much  misquoted,  distorted,  and  falsified,  but  I 
have  been  made  responsible  for  much  misinformation,  and  the  ostensible 
authority  for  deliberate  and  wilful  misrepresentation.  For  instance,  be- 
cause I  have  asserted,  and  demonstrated,  that  some  baskets  are  "  human 
documents,"  in  that  the  weaver  has  put  into  the  design  her  hopes,  am- 

72 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  73 

bitions,  religion,  etc.,  irresponsible  and  dishonest  traders  have  conjured 
up  wild  and  fantastic,  though  interesting  and  romantic,  stories  about  the 
designs  of  the  baskets  they  had  for  sale,  and  have  given  them  to  their 
patrons,  quoting  me  as  their  authority  that  all  baskets  contain  such  stories. 
Here  is  exactly  what  I  did  say  in  my  book,  Indian  Basketry,  the  first 
edition  of  which  was  published  in  1900: 

The  only  reliable  method  of  determining  the  meaning  of  a  basketry  design  is  to 
obtain  a  clear  explanation  from  its  maker.  And  this  must  be  done  cautiously.  With 
her  habitual  reserve  and  fear  of  being  laughed  at  by  the  whites,  the  Indian  woman  is 
exceedingly  susceptible  to  suggestion.  If  you  ask  her  whether  her  design  does  not 
mean  this  or  that,  you  may  with  certainty  rely  upon  what  the  answer  will  be  before 
it  is  given.  She  will  respond  with  a  grunt  or  word  of  affirmation,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  laugh  within  herself  at  the  folly  of  the  questioner.  For,  of  course,  she  is 
"  smart "  enough  to  know  that  if  you  make  the  suggestion  that  the  design  means  so 
and  so,  she  will  be  safe  if  she  accept  your  suggestion. 

If  the  basket  is  an  old  one  and  the  maker  is  dead,  one  must  be  content  to  receive 
such  explanation  as  the  older  members  of  the  tribe  can  give  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
its  design.  Yet  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  the  observations  of  experienced  ethnol- 
ogists insist  that  these  explanations  cannot  be  relied  upon.  On  this  subject  Farrand 
says :  "  It  should  be  noted  that  most  of  the  designs  show  variants  and  also  that  what 
were  originally  representations  of  very  dissimilar  objects  have  converged  in  their  evo- 
lution until  the  same  figure  does  duty  for  both  —  conditions  which  result  in  uncer- 
tainty and  difference  of  opinion  among  native  connoisseurs,  and  consequently,  in  the 
conclusions  of  the  ethnologist.  Nevertheless,  the  great  majority  of  the  patterns  are 
well  recognized  under  specific  names.  There  are,  of  course,  geometric  designs  which, 
so  far  as  all  obtainable  information  goes,  are  used  simply  for  the  decorative  value  of 
their  lines  and  angles ;  but  such  patterns  are  usually  of  great  age,  and  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  their  representative  meaning  is  lost  in  antiquity  or  has  only  baffled  the 
diligence  of  the  inquirer.  The  well-known  conservatism  of  the  Indian  insures  the 
relative  permanence  of  a  design,  even  when  its  meaning  is  not  recognized." 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  I  carefully  guarded  my  statement  by 
showing  that  no  person  living  can  determine  what  the  meaning  of  the 
design  of  any  given  basket  is  —  provided  it  has  a  meaning  —  save  the 
weaver  herself.  And  I  am  fully  satisfied  that  the  same  caution  must  be 
observed  in  determining  the  meaning  of  any  design  upon  a  Navaho 
blanket.  Personally  I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  accept  Father  Berard's 
belief  that  it  has  no  meaning,  or,  rather,  that  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  art 
the  weaver  attached  no  significance  to  her  design.  I  am  perfectly  aware 
that  in  this  commercialized  era  the  Navaho's  art  has  suffered,  and,  as  I 
have  stated  in  other  chapters,  designs  are  handed  out  to  the  weavers  with 
instructions  to  reproduce  them,  as  near  as  may  be,  in  the  blankets  that  are 
to  be  woven.  Here,  then,  is  evidence  sufficient  that  in  many  modern 
blankets  there  is  no  pretense  of  significance  to  be  attached  to  the  symbol 
or  design  used. 


74  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Yet,  even  granting  all  this,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  highly  interesting,  and 
instructive  also,  to  trace  out,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  origin  and  history  of 
many  of  the  designs  common  to  the  Navaho  weaver. 

Whence  did  she  gain  her  designs? 

Some  have  claimed  that  they  were  stolen  bodily  from  the  Pueblo 
Indians  —  who  were  supposed  to  have  taught  the  Navahos  how  to  weave 
—  others  that  they  took  them  from  the  Mexican  scrapes,  and  still  others 
that  they  have  originated  them  from  a  careful  observation  of  Nature. 

I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  none  of  these  claims  is  altogether 
justified,  though  there  may  be  some  truth  in  each  of  them  when  applied 
to  individual  cases;  but  to  suppose  that  all  the  Navaho  designs  came  from 
the  Pueblos,  or  from  the  Mexicans,  or  from  Nature  alone  are  supposi- 
tions not  borne  out  by  the  facts. 

An  understanding  of  the  origin  of  Navaho  designs  cannot  be  had 
without  a  fairly  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  Navaho  himself,  racially, 
socially,  religiously  considered.  His  whole  life  and  mental  attitude  must 
be  understood  before  the  secret  of  his  use  of  design  will  be  revealed. 
Hence  the  pains  taken  to  present  in  these  pages  as  full  pictures  as  possible 
of  the  Navaho  on  his  reservation,  in  his  native  environment,  in  his  home, 
and  in  his  mental  and  religious  attitude  toward  things. 

To  one  unacquainted  with  the  religious  thought  of  the  Navaho 
weaver  it  might  seem  absurd  to  affirm  that  there  is  a  close  connection 
between  her  religious  observances  and  many  of  the  designs  introduced 
into  her  blankets.  Yet  I  think  it  can  clearly  be  shown  that  there  is  an 
intimate  connection  between  the  two.  Indeed,  I  doubt  whether  the  sub- 
ject will  ever  be  clearly  understood  until  we  have  gained  a  much  larger 
knowledge  than  we  now  possess  of  the  sacred  sand-paintings  used  by  the 
shamans  in  their  religious  ceremonials.  Far  more  complex  than  the  sand- 
paintings  of  the  Hopis,  the  Zunis,  or  any  other  of  the  Pueblo  tribes,  those 
of  the  Navaho  are  marvelous  in  their  symbolism,  remarkable  in  their 
invention,  and  fascinating  in  their  weird  picturesqueness.  No  adequate 
work  has  ever  been  published  upon  this  subject,  because  no  ethnologist 
has  yet  been  found  to  devote  himself  enough  to  the  Navahos  to  gain  the 
requisite  knowledge.  Enough  was  done,  however,  by  James  Stevenson 
and  Washington  Matthews,  both  formerly  connected  with  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  to  give  one  a  clue  to  the  mental  processes  of  the 
inventive  Navaho,  and  my  own  studies  of  Navaho  ceremonials  in  which 
the  sand-paintings  are  used  have  shown  clearly  how  much  they  have 
influenced  the  Navaho  weaver  in  her  work.  Mrs.  John  Wetherill,  of 
Kayenta,  Arizona,  whose  husband  is  a  Navaho  Indian  trader,  with  a 
keen  appreciation  of  the  value  of  a  series  of  studies  of  these  sand-paint- 
ings, is  now  engaged  in  making  a  collection  of  them  from  the  few  remain- 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  75 

ing  old  medicine-men  chanters  of  the  tribe,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  her 
valuable  illustrations  and  descriptive  manuscript  will  be  given  ere  long 
to  the  scientific  world. 

Of  these  sand-paintings,  or  dry-paintings,  as  he  prefers  to  call  them, 
Dr.  Matthews  thus  writes: 

The  excellence  to  which  the  Navahos  have  carried  the  art  of  dry-painting  is  as 
remarkable  as  that  to  which  they  have  brought  the  art  of  weaving.  Unlike  the  neigh- 
boring Pueblos,  they  make  no  graven  images  of  their  divinities.  They  do  not  decorate 
robes  and  skins  with  moist  colors  as  do  the  Indians  of  the  plains.  They  make  little 
pottery  and  this  little  is  neither  artistically  nor  symbolically  decorated.  Their  petro- 
glyphs  are  rare  and  crude ;  the  best  rock  inscriptions,  which  abound  in  the  Southwest, 
are  believed  to  be  the  work  of  Cliff  Dwellers  and  Pueblo  Indians,  or  their  ancestors. 
Seeing  no  evidence  of  symbolic  art  among  them,  one  might  readily  suppose  they  had 
none.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  white  men  (some  of  whom  had  lived  fifteen  years  or 
more  among  the  Navahos),  with  whom  the  author  conversed  when  first  he  went  to 
the  Navaho  country,  and  such  was  the  opinion  of  all  ethnographers  before  his  time. 
The  symbolic  art  of  the  Navahos  is  to  be  studied  in  the  medicine-lodge.  The  Pueblo 
Indians — those  of  Zuni  and  Moki  —  and  some  of  the  wilder  tribes  —  Apaches  and 
Cheyennes  —  understand  the  art  of  dry-painting;  but  none  seem  to  have  such  num- 
erous and  elaborate  designs  as  the  Navahos. 

The  pigments  are  five  in  number;  they  are:  white,  made  of  white  sandstone; 
yellow,  of  yellow  sandstone;  red,  of  red  sandstone;  black,  of  charcoal,  mixed  with  a 
small  proportion  of  powdered  red  sandstone  to  give  it  weight  and  stability;  "blue," 
made  of  black  and  white  mixed.  These  are  ground  into  fine  powder,  between  two 
stones,  as  the  Indians  grind  corn.  The  so-called  blue  is,  of  course,  gray;  but  it  is  the 
only  inexpensive  representative  of  the  blue  tint  they  can  obtain  and,  combined  with 
other  colors,  on  the  sandy  floor,  it  looks  like  a  real  blue.  These  colored  powders,  pre- 
pared before  the  picture  is  begun,  are  kept  on  improvised  trays  of  pine-bark.  To  apply 
them,  the  artist  picks  up  a  little  between  his  first  and  second  finger  and  his  opposed 
thumb,  and  allowrs  it  to  flow  out  slowly  as  he  moves  his  hand.  When  he  takes  up  his 
pinch  of  powder  he  blows  on  his  fingers  to  remove  aberrant  particles  and  keep  them 
from  falling  on  the  picture,  out  of  place.  When  he  makes  a  mistake  he  does  not  brush 
away  the  color;  he  obliterates  it  by  pouring  sand  on  it  and  then  draws  the  corrected 
design  on  the  new  surface. 

The  dry-paintings  of  the  largest  size,  which  are  drawn  on  the  floor  of  the  medi- 
cine-lodge, are  often  ten  to  twelve  feet  in  diameter.  They  are  sometimes  so  large  that 
the  fire  in  the  center  of  the  lodge  must  be  moved  to  one  side  to  accommodate  them. 
They  are  made  as  near  to  the  west  side  of  the  lodge  as  practicable.  The  lodge  is 
poorly  lighted,  and  on  a  short  winter  day  the  artists  must  often  begin  their  work 
before  sunrise  if  they  would  finish  before  nightfall,  which  it  is  essential  they  should  do. 

To  prepare  the  ground  work  for  a  picture  in  the  lodge,  several  young  men  go 
forth  and  bring  in  a  quantity  of  dry  sand  in  blankets;  this  is  thrown  on  the  floor  and 
spread  out  over  a  surface  of  sufficient  size,  to  the  depth  of  about  three  inches;  it  is 
leveled  and  made  smooth  by  means  of  the  broad  oaken  battens  used  in  weaving. 

The  drawings  are  begun  as  much  toward  the  center  as  the  design  will  permit, 
due  regard  being  paid  to  the  precedence  of  the  points  of  the  compass ;  the  figure  in  the 
east  being  first,  that  in  the  south  second,  that  in  the  west  third,  and  that  in  the  north 
fourth.  The  figures  in  the  periphery  come  after  these.  The  reason  for  thus  working 


76  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

from  within,  outward  is  practical;  it  is  that  the  operators  may  not  have  to  step  over 
and  thus  risk  the  safety  of  their  finished  work. 

The  pictures  are  drawn  according  to  an  exact  system,  except  in  certain  well 
defined  cases,  where  the  limner  is  allowed  to  indulge  his  fancy.  This  is  the  case  with 
the  embroidered  pouches  the  gods  carry  at  the  waist.  Within  reasonable  limits  the 
artist  may  give  his  god  as  handsome  a  pouch  as  he  wishes.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
parts  are  measured  by  palms  and  spans  and  not  a  line  of  the  sacred  design  may  be 
varied  in  them.  Straight  and  parallel  lines  are  drawn  with  the  aid  of  a  tightened  cord. 
The  naked  bodies  of  the  mythical  figures  are  first  drawn  and  then  the  clothing  is 
put  on. 

The  shamans  declare  that  these  pictures  are  transmitted  unaltered  from  year  to 
year  and  from  generation  to  generation.  It  may  be  doubted  if  such  is  strictly  the  case. 
No  permanent  design  is  anywhere  preserved  by  them  and  there  is  no  final  authority 
in  the  tribe.  The  pictures  are  carried  from  winter  to  winter  in  the  fallible  memories 
of  men.  They  may  not  be  drawn  in  the  summer.  The  custom  of  destroying  these 
pictures  at  the  close  of  the  ceremonies  and  preserving  no  permanent  copies  of  them 
arose,  no  doubt,  largely  from  a  desire  to  preserve  the  secrets  of  the  lodge  from  the 
uninitiated;  but  it  had  also  perhaps  a  more  practical  reason  for  its  existence.  The 
Navahos  had  no  way  of  drawing  permanent  designs  in  color.  When  it  became  known 
to  the  shamans  (and  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  hide  the  fact  from  them)  that  the 
author  kept  water-color  drawings  of  the  sacred  pictures  in  his  possession,  these  men, 
at  the  proper  season,  when  about  to  perform  a  ceremony,  often  brought  their  assistants 
to  look  at  the  drawings,  and  then  and  there  would  lecture  the  young  men  and  call  their 
attention  to  special  features  in  the  pictures,  thus,  no  doubt,  saving  themselves  much 
trouble  afterwards  in  the  medicine-lodge.  These  water-colors  were  never  shown  to 
the  uninitiated  among  the  Indians  and  never  to  any  Indian  during  the  forbidden 
season. 

Owing  to  the  large  place  the  dry-paintings  have  in  the  sacred  or 
ceremonial  life  of  the  Navaho,  I  have  included  among  the  pictures  a  plate 
of  the  dry-painting  representing  the  Place  and  Vision  of  the  Whirling 
Logs  (Fig.  40).  The  myth  or  legend  connected  with  this  would  take 
up  many  pages  even  to  outline,  hence  I  must  refer  those  who  are  inter- 
ested to  the  great  work  of  Dr.  Matthews,  The  Night  Chant,  published 
by  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  from  which  both  the  illus- 
tration and  text  are  taken. 

The  chief  character  in  the  story  is  Bitahatini,  or  the  Visionary,  who, 
whenever  he  went  out  by  himself,  heard,  or  thought  he  heard,  the  songs 
of  spirits  sung  to  him.  His  three  brothers  had  no  faith  in  him  and  said: 
"  When  you  return  from  your  solitary  walks  and  tell  us  you  have  seen 
strange  things  and  heard  strange  songs  you  are  mistaken;  you  only 
imagine  you  hear  these  songs  and  you  see  nothing  unusual." 

In  one  of  Bitahatini's  journeys  he  had  marvelous  and  wonderful 
experiences  with  the  gods  which  are  now  regarded  as  of  the  utmost 
importance  and  are  introduced  into  the  nine-days'  and  nights'  ceremonies 
of  "The  Night  Chant."  In  these  experiences  he  was  taught  certain 
things  by  the  yei,  or  gods,  of  the  Navaho,  and  in  the  legend  there  is 


Frc.  40. 

Dry-Painting   Representing   the  Place  and  Vision  of  the 

Whirling  Logs. 
(Courtesy  of  American  Museum  of  Natural   History.)        [PAGE   76] 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  77 

a  hint  of  an  idea  that  it  may,  at  one  time,  have  been  woven  into  a  blanket 
of  cotton,  for  the  old  medicine  man  who  related  the  story  said: 

The  yei  did  not  draw  this  picture  upon  the  sand  as  we  do  now;  they  had  it  on 
a  sheet  of  some  substance  called  nesha.  We  do  not  know  now  what  this  substance 
was;  it  may  have  been  cotton.  They  unfolded  this  sheet  whenever  they  wanted  to 
look  at  the  picture.  The  yei  who  unfolded  it  to  show  to  the  prophet  (or  Visionary) 
said:  "We  will  not  give  you  this  picture;  men  are  not  as  good  as  we;  they  might 
quarrel  over  the  picture  and  tear  it,  and  that  would  bring  misfortune;  the  black 
cloud  would  not  come  again,  the  rain  would  not  fall,  the  corn  would  not  grow; 
but  you  may  paint  it  on  the  ground  with  colors  of  the  earth." 

The  picture,  therefore,  is  painted  by  the  medicine  man  with  the 
greatest  care  and  represents  the  vision  of  the  prophet  at  the  lake 
To'nihilin. 

The  bowl  of  water  in  the  center,  sprinkled  with  charcoal,  symbolizes  the  lake. 
The  black  cross  represents  the  spruce  logs  crossing  one  another.  The  colors  edging 
the  cross  show  the  white  foam  on  the  waters,  the  yellow  water-pollen,  the  blue  and 
red  rainbow  tints. 

Four  stalks  of  corn  are  depicted  as  growing  on  the  shores  of  the  lake;  each 
has  three  roots  and  two  ears.  The  white  stalk  of  corn,  according  to  its  color, 
belongs  to  the  east;  the  blue,  to  the  south;  the  yellow  to  the  west,  and  the  black 
to  the  north;  but  the  conditions  of  the  picture  require  that  these  stalks  should  be 
directed  to  intermediate  points.  Each  stalk  is  bordered  with  a  contrasting  color. 

Eight  yei  or  divine  characters  —  four  male  and  four  female  —  are  shown  seated  on 
the  floating  logs.  The  legs  of  the  four  gods  in  the  periphery  of  the  picture  are 
depicted;  this  is  to  indicate  that  they  are  standing;  but  the  legs  of  the  eight  gods 
on  the  cross  are  not  depicted;  this  is  done  to  indicate  that  they  are  sitting;  the  feet 
seem  hanging  below  the  logs.  The  four  outer  yeit  on  the  cross,  dressed  in  black, 
are  males.  The  sex  is  indicated:  (i)  by  the  round  head  representing  the  cap-like 
or  helmet-like  mask  which  a  personator  of  a  male  divinity  wears;  (2)  by  showing 
attached  to  the  mask  the  two  eagle-plumes  and  the  tuft  of  owl-feathers  worn  by 
each  male  dancer  in  the  dance  of  the  last  night;  (3)  by  the  symbol  of  a  spruce 
twig  in  the  left  hand  and  of  a  gourd  rattle  painted  white  in  the  right  —  such  imple- 
ments are  carried  by  the  male  dancers.  The  four  inner  yeif  dressed  in  white  are 
females.  The  sex  is  indicated:  (i)  by  the  rectangular  mask  or  domino;  (2)  by 
the  yellow  arms  and  chests  —  females  were  created  of  yellow  corn  and  males  of 
white  corn,  according  to  the  myths  —  and  (3)  by  a  symbol  of  a  spruce  wand  in 
each  hand,  for  such  wands  does  the  female  dancer  carry  in  the  dance  the  last  night. 

The  figures  in  the  north  and  south  represent  Ganaskidi  or  humpbacks  as  they 
appear  in  the  rites.  These  are  Mountain  Sheep  or  Bighorn  Gods,  which  figure  so 
prominently  in  the  myth  of  the  Visionary.  The  blue  male  mask,  the  headdress 
with  its  zigzag  line  for  white  lightning,  the  radiating  scarlet  feathers  to  represent 
sunbeams,  the  blue  imitation  horns  of  the  mountain  sheep,  the  black  sack  of  plenty 
on  the  back,  and  the  gis  or  staff  on  which  the  laden  god  leans,  are  all  symbolized 
or  depicted  in  the  picture. 

The  white  figure  in  the  east  is  that  of  Hastseyalti,  the  Talking  God.  He  is 
thus  represented:  He  wears  the  white  mask  which  the  personator  of  this  character 


78  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

always  wears  in  the  ceremonies,  with  its  eagle-plumes  tipped  with  breath-feathers, 
its  tuft  of  yellow  owl-feathers,  its  ornament  of  fox-skin  under  the  right  ear,  and  its 
peculiar  mouth-symbol  and  ear-symbols,  but  without  the  corn-symbol  on  the  nose. 
He,  carries  a  pouch  made  of  the  gray  skin  of  Abert's  squirrel  (Sciurus  Aberti),  which 
is  depicted  with  care.  The  general  gray  of  the  squirrel  is  shown  by  the  gray  or 
so-called  blue  color  of  the  body.  The  fact  that  the  hairs  of  the  animal  are  tipped 
with  white  is  indicated  by  making  a  white  margin  and  by  sprinkling  white  powder 
lightly  over  the  blue  —  the  latter  device  is  very  imperfectly  shown  in  the  illustra- 
tion. The  black  tips  on  ears,  nose,  and  feet,  as  well  as  the  chestnut  spot  on  the 
back,  are  indicated  —  the  latter  by  a  short  red  marginal  line  interrupting  the  white. 

The  black  figure  in  the  west  is  that  of  Hastsehogan.  He  is  shown  in  this  man- 
ner: He  wears  a  beautifully  ornamented  black  dress  and  a  blue  mask,  decorated 
with  eagle-plumes  and  owl-feathers.  The  ornament  under  his  right  ear  consists 
of  strips  of  otter-skin  with  porcupine  quills.  He  carries  in  his  hand  a  black  wand 
colored  with  charcoal  of  four  different  plants,  ornamented  with  a  single  whorl  of 
turkey-feathers,  with  two  eagle-feathers  tied  on  the  cotton  string,  with  a  white 
ring  at  the  base  of  the  whorl,  and  with  the  skins  of  two  bluebirds. 

The  two  Ganaskidi  and  Hastsehogan  are  supposed  to  be  punching  the  logs  and 
causing  them  to  whirl  with  their  staves,  while  Hastseyalti  scatters  pollen  from 
his  pouch. 

Surrounding  the  picture  on  three  sides,  appears  the  anthropomorphic  rainbow, 
or  rainbow  goddess,  wearing  the  rectangular  female  mask  and  carrying  at  the  waist 
an  embroidered  pouch,  tied  on  with  four  strings.  The  hands  of  all  the  other 
divinities  are  shown  occupied,  but  the  hands  of  the  rainbow  are  shown  empty;  this 
is  that  they  may  be  ready  to  receive  the  cup  of  medicine  which  is  placed  on  them 
after  the  picture  is  finished. 

The  rainbow  and  the  eight  divinities  on  the  cross  are  represented  with  breath- 
feathers  tied  on  the  tops  of  the  heads  by  means  of  white  cotton  strings,  and  the 
horns  of  the  Ganaskidi  are  similarly  decked.  All  the  gods  are  shown  with  gar- 
nished moccasins,  tied  with  white  strings.  All  of  those  showing  their  legs  have 
rainbow  garters.  Five  have  ornamented  fringes  on  their  kilts  or  loincloths.  The 
bodies  of  all  are  fringed  with  red  to  represent  sunlight;  the  Navaho  artist  does  not 
confine  the  halo  to  the  head  of  his  holy  subject.  All  have  ear-pendants  of  tur- 
quois  and  coral.  The  eight  central  figures  are  represented  with  strips  of  fox-skin  — 
blue  and  yellow  —  hanging  from  elbows  and  wrists  and  garnished  at  their  ends. 
Such  adornments,  it  is  said,  were  once  used  in  the  dance,  but  are  now  obsolete ;  they, 
in  turn,  represented  beams  of  light.  The  yellow  horizontal  line  at  the  bottom  of 
each  pictured  mask  represents  a  band  at  the  bottom  of  the  actual  mask  worn  by 
the  actor,  and  this  band  in  turn  symbolizes  the  yellow  evening  light. 

All  have  the  neck  depicted  in  the  same  manner.  The  blue  is  generally  con- 
ceded by  the  shamans  to  symbolize  the  collar  of  spruce  twigs;  but  opinion  is  divided 
with  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  transverse  red  lines.  The  original  significance 
of  these  is  perhaps  forgotten.  Some  say  they  represent  the  rings  of  the  trachea; 
but  those  shamans  whose  opinion  the  writer  most  values  say  they  represent  an 
obsolete  neck  ornament  called  tsitseyo,  or  cherry-beads,  which  was  made  neither  of 
cherries  or  corals. 

It  is  well  now  to  consider  a  few  Nature  symbols  that  are  extensively 
used  by  the  Navahos  today  in  their  religious  ceremonials.    As  corn  is  one 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  79 

of  the  most  important  foods  of  the  Navaho,  it  plays  a  great  part  in  all 
their  ceremonies.  Its  symbol  is  used  continually,  both  on  dry-paintings 
and  sacred  masks.  On  many  of  these  it  is  represented  as  an 
irregular  upright  stem  with  waving  leaves  on  either  side 
and  the  corn  branching  out  higher  up  the  stalk,  with  the 
pollen-laden  flower  above.  (See  Fig.  41.) 

The  sign  or  symbol  for  the  eye  is  found  on  the  sacred 
masks  used  in  the  dances  and  other  ceremonials.  The 
mouth  is  similarly  represented  on  these  masks. 

On  the  sand-paintings  sunbeams  are  made  of  radiating 
scarlet  feathers,  but  when  drawn  are  represented  by  straight  lines  parallel, 
and,  if  possible,  in  some  scarlet  or  red  color. 

On  the  masks  they  are  shown  by  ten  quills  of  the  red-shafted  wood- 
pecker, radiating  from  the  edge  of  the  crown,  which  is  painted  black  to 
represent  the  storm-cloud.  They  then  symbolize  sunbeams  streaming  out 
of  the  edge  of  a  dark  cloud. 

Another  design  is  that  called  the  queue  symbol,  which  represents  the 
scalps  of  their  enemies.  It  is  painted  on  the  body  of  the  representative 

of  their  god  Tobadzistsini,  or  Child  of  the 
Water.  The  Navahos  and  many  other  tribes  of 
the  Southwest  wear  the  hair  done  up  in  a  queue, 
which  is  not  allowed  to  dangle,  as  does  that  of 
the  Chinese,  but  is  tied  up  close  to  the  occiput; 
hence  the  symbol  of  a  queue  is  also  that  of  a 
scalp.  Sometimes  the  symbols  are  closed,  and 
GS.  42,  43,  4  at  other  times  open,  as  shown  in  the  diagram. 

The  open  symbol  has  a  different  significance  from  the  closed  symbol.    (See 
Figs.  42,  43,  44.) 

A  design  that  is  often  found  on  the  blanket  is  the  "bow"  (Fig.  45). 
These  are  placed  upon  the  body  of  the  personator  of  the  god 
Nayenezgani,  are  always  made  with  five  different  lines  drawn 
from  the  above  downward  and  in  an  established  order  from 
which  no  deviation  is  allowed,  as  that  would  destroy  the  effect 
desired.      When  a  bow  is  to  be  represented  as  unstrung,  the       FIGS.  45, 46 
upper  end  of  the  cord  is  unattached,  as  shown  in  Fig.  46. 

Zigzag  lines  generally  represent  lightning,  and  in  the  Navaho  myths 
the  gods  are  said  to  carry  on  their  persons  strings  of  real  lightning,  which 
they  use  as  ropes. 

Whenever  zigzag  lines  are  painted  in  white  on  a  black  background 
they  symbolize  lightning  on  the  face  of  a  cloud. 

In  the  foregoing  is  a  wealth  of  proof  that  the  Navaho  is  essentially 
a  religious  being;  that  he  symbolizes  almost  everything;  that  he  regards 


8o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

these  symbols  as  more  than  mere  decorative  designs;  in  fact,  that  they 
speak  to  him  in  no  uncertain  terms  of  sacred  and  mysterious  things  that 
he  must  regard  and  remember. 

Is  it  then  an  irrational  assumption  that  in  the  earlier  day,  before 
the  commercial  spirit  of  our  money-mad  civilization  had  entirely  driven 
out  their  ancient  reverence  from  many  of  the  Navahos,  the  simple-hearted, 
reverent,  and  religious  weavers  put  into  their  blankets  the  thoughts  that 
moved  them,  the  ambitions  and  aspirations  that  inspired  them,  the  hopes 
that  sustained  them,  and  the  religious  ideas  that  guided  them  in  their 
somewhat  rude  and  rough  pathway  through  life?  That,  in  fact,  their 
blankets  were  human  documents,  though  pathetically  inadequate,  when 
compared  with  the  white  race's  literature. 

While  from  the  foregoing  enough  has  been  presented  to  show  that 
the  Navaho  has  taken  many  of  his  symbols  or  designs  from  Nature,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  his  nearest  neighbors,  the  Pueblo  Indians, 
especially  the  Hopis,  decorated  their  pottery  with  a  wealth  of  design  that 
will  be  the  surprise  and  admiration  of  the  modern  designer  when  he  ob- 
serves it  for  the  first  time. 

The  importance  of  this  close  proximity  to  the  Pueblos  and  of  the 
marvelous  art  development  these  sedentary  people  had  attained  in  the 
decoration  of  their  pottery,  cannot  be  over  estimated.  Like  produces 
like;  we  are  the  product  of  our  heredity  and  environment;  we  develop 
along  the  lines  of  least  resistance  —  these  are  axiomatic  propositions  that 
help  us  understand  the  development  of  the  Navaho  weavers  as  creators 
of  artistic  and  striking  designs. 

Neither  should  it  be  overlooked  that  the  Pueblo  weavers  were  using 
colors  and  incorporating  similar  designs  into  their  textiles  that  they  were 
placing  upon  their  pottery  long  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  into 
New  Mexico  (1540).  Indeed  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory in  New  York  there  is  a  fine  specimen  of  weaving  in  colors,  taken 
from  a  prehistoric  Cliff  Dwelling,  in  which  the  design  is  closely  similar 
to  some  of  the  pottery  designs  herein  presented. 

It  is  to  an  elaborate  and  beautifully  illustrated  monograph  by  Dr. 
J.  Walter  Fewkes,  published  by  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  that 
we  owe  our  knowledge  of  these  designs,  and  to  Dr.  Fewkes,  and  Dr. 
F.  W.  Hodge,  Chief  of  the  Bureau,  we  are  indebted  for  the  privilege  of 
reproducing  them  here. 

After  showing  the  human  figure,  the  whorls  in  which  the  hair  of  the 
Hopi  maiden  is  dressed,  mythic  personages,  the  human  hand,  quadrupeds, 
reptiles,  tadpoles,  butterflies,  moths,  dragon  flies,  birds,  feathers,  vege- 
tables, etc.,  Dr.  Fewkes  finally  comes  to  a  consideration  of  geometri- 
cal figures. 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  81 

In  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  these  figures  he  frankly  says: 

Two  extreme  views  are  current  in  regard  to  the  significance  of  these  designs. 
To  one  school  everything  is  symbolic  of  something  or  some  religious  conception;  to 
the  other  the  majority  are  meaningless  save  as  decorations.  I  find  the  middle  path 
the  more  conservative,  and  while  regarding  many  of  the  designs  as  highly  con- 
ventionalized symbols,  believe  that  there  are  also  many  where  the  decorator  had  no 
thought  of  symbolism. 

It  must  be  clearly  remembered  that  in  giving  his  explanations  of 
these  symbols,  Dr.  Fewkes  is  working  with  prehistoric  material,  purely 
guessing  at  the  significance,  for  he  has  no  possible  means  of  knowing  the 
mind  of  the  decorator.  Hence,  his  words  must  be  taken  at  the  value  he 
himself  places  upon  them  as  far  as  definite  knowledge  of  the  symbolism 
involved  is  concerned.  But  the  symbols  or  designs  are  themselves  of 
superlative  value,  as  demonstrating  the  artistic  and  inventive  genius  of 
the  ancient  aboriginal  potters,  and  revealing  how  prolific  and  creative 
they  were. 

Might  not  the  Navaho  weavers  have  been  the  same?  If  they  were 
not,  then  the  fact  should  not  be  overlooked  that  they  had  this  wealth  of 
design  in  the  old  pottery  constantly  before  them  to  copy,  or  from  which 
they  might  receive  suggestions. 

After  explaining  the  presence  and  meaning  of  crosses,  swastikas, 
terraced  figures,  the  crook,  the  germinative  symbol,  and  broken  lines, 
Dr.  Fewkes  proceeds: 

The  simplest  form  of  decoration  on  the  exterior  of  a 
food  bowl  is  a  band  encircling  it.  This  line  may  be  complete 
or  it  may  be  broken  at  one  point.  The  next  more  complicated 
geometric  decoration  is  a  double  or  multiple  band.  The  break- 
ing up  of  this  multiple  band  into  parallel  bars  is  shown  in  Fig. 
47.  These  bars  generally  have  a  quadruple  arrangement,  and 
are  horizontal,  vertical,  or,  as  in  the  illustration,  inclined  at  an  ^ei  line  decoration* 
angle.  They  are  often  found  on  the  lips  of  the  bowls  and  in 

a  similar  position  on  jars,  dippers,  and  vases.     The  parallel  lines  shown  in  Fig.  48 
are  seven  in  number,  and  do  not  encircle  the  bowl.     They  are  joined  by  a  broad 


FIG.  48 — Parallel  lines  fused  at  one  point 


connecting  band  near  one  extremity.    The  number  of  parallel  bands  in  this  decoration 
is  highly  suggestive. 


82  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Four  parallel  bands  encircle  the  bowl  shown  in  Fig.  49,  but  they  are  so 
modified  in  their  course  as  to  form  a  number  of  trapezoidal  figures  placed  with  alter- 
nating sides  parallel.  This  interesting  pattern  is  found  only  on  one  vessel. 


FIG.  49 — Parallel  lines  with  zigzag  arrangement 

The  use  of  simple  parallel  bars,  arranged  at  equal  intervals  on  the  outside 
of  food  bowls,  is  not  confined  to  these  vessels,  for  they  occur  on  the  margin  of  vases, 

Hcups  and  dippers.  They  likewise  occur  on  ladle  handles,  where  they  are 
arranged  in  alternate  tranverse  and  longitudinal  clusters. 
The  combination  of  two  vertical  bands  connected  by  a  horizontal 
band,  forming  the  letter  H,  is  an  ornamental  design  frequently  occurring 
on  the  finest  Hopi  ware.  Fig.  50  shows  such  an  H  form,  which  is 
ordinarily  repeated  four  times  about  the  bowl. 

Parallel  lines  The  interval  between  the  parallel  bands  around  the  vessel  may  be 

with^nfldie      very  much  reduced  in  size,  and  some  of  the  bands  may  be  of  different 
bar  width  or  otherwise  modified.     Such  a  deviation  is  seen  in  Fig.  51,  which 

has  three  bands,  one  of  which  is  broad  with  straight  edges,  the  other  with  serrate 
margin  and  hook-like  appendages. 

In  Fig.  52  eight  bands  are  shown,  the  marginal  broad  with  edges  entire,  and 
the  medium  pair  serrated,  the  long  teeth  fitting  each  other  in  such  a  way  as  to 
impart  a  zigzag  effect  to  the  space  which  separates  them.  The  remaining  four  lines, 


Fio.  51 — Parallel  lines  of  different  width ;  serrate  margin 

two  on  each  side,  appear  as  black  bands  on  a  white  ground.     It  will  be  noticed  that 
an  attempt  was  made  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  the  middle  band  of  Fig.  52  by  the 


FIG.  52 — Parallel  lines  of  different  width ;  median  serrate 

introduction  of  a  white  line  in  zigzag  form.     A  similar  result  was  accomplished  in 
the  design  in  Fig.  53  by  rectangles  and  dots. 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  83 

The  modification  of  the  multiple  bands  in  Fig.  53  has  produced  a  very  different 
decorative  form.     This  design  is  composed  of  five  bands,  the  marginal  on  each  side 


FIG.  53 — Parallel  lines  of  different  width  ;  marginal  serrate 

serrate,  and  the  middle  band  relatively  very  broad,  with  diagonals,  each  containing 
four  round  dots  regularly  arranged.  In  Fig.  54  there  are  many  parallel,  non-con- 
tinuous bands  of  different  breadth,  arranged  in  groups  separated  by  triangles  with 


FIG.  54 — Parallel  lines  and  triangles 


sides  parallel,  and  the  whole  united  by  bounding  lines.     This  is  the  most  compli- 
cated form  of  design  where  straight  lines  are  used. 

We  have  thus  far  considered  modifications  brought  about  by  fusion  and  other 
changes  in  simple  parallel  lines.    They  may  be  confined  to  one  side  of  the  food  bowl, 


FIG.  55 — Line  with  alternate  triangles 


may  repeat  each  other  at  intervals,  or  surround  the  whole  vessel.     Ordinarily,  how- 
ever, they  are  confined  to  one  side  of  the  bowls  from  Sikyatki. 

Returning  to  the  single  encircling  band,  it  is  found,  in  Fig.  55,  broken  up  into 
alternating    equilateral    triangles,    each    pair   united    at    their    right    angles.      This 


FIG.  56 — Single  line  with  alternate  spurs 


modification  is  carried  still   further  in  Fig.  56,  where  the  triangles  on  each  side 
of  the  single  line  are  prolonged  into  oblique  spurs,  the  pairs  separated  a  short  dis- 


84  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

tance  from  each  other.     In  Fig.  57  there  is  shown  still  another  arrangement  of  these 
triangular  decorations,   the  pairs  forming  hourglass-shape  figures  connected   by  an 


FIG.  57 — Single  line  with  hourglass  figures 

encircling  line  passing  through  their  points  of  junction.  In  Fig.  58  the  double  tri- 
angles, one  on  each  side  of  the  encircling  band,  are  so  placed  that  their  line  of 
separation  is  lost,  and  a  single  triangle  replaces  the  pair.  These  are  connected  by 
the  line  surrounding  the  bowl  and  there  is  a  dot  at  the  smallest  angle.  In  Fig. 


FIG.  58 — Single  lines  with  triangles 

59  there  is  a  similar  design,  except  that  alternating  with  each  triangle,  which  bears 
more  decoration  than  that  shown  in  Fig.  58,  there  are  hourglass  figures  composed  of 
ovals  and  triangles.  The  dots  at  the  apex  of  that  design  are  replaced  by  short 
parallel  lines  of  varying  width.  The  triangles  and  ovals  last  considered  are  arranged 


FIG.  59 — Single  line  with  alternate  triangles  and  ovals 

symmetrically  in  relation  to  a  simple  band.  By  a  reduction  in  the  intervening 
spaces  these  triangles  may  be  brought  together  and  the  line  disappears.  I  have 
found  no  specimen  of  design  illustrating  the  simplest  form  of  the  resultant  motive, 
but  that  shown  in  Fig.  60  is  a  new  combination  comparable  with  it. 


FIG.  60 — Triangles  and  quadrilaterals 

The  simple  triangular  decorative  design  reaches  a  high  degree  of  complication 
in  Fig.  60,  where  a  connecting  line  is  absent,  and  two  triangles  having  their  smallest 
angles  facing  each  other  are  separated  by  a  lozenge-shape  figure  made  up  of  many 
parallel  lines  placed  obliquely  to  the  axis  of  the  design.  The  central  part  is  com- 
posed of  seven  parallel  lines,  the  marginal  of  which,  on  two  opposite  sides,  is 
minutely  dentate.  The  median  band  is  very  broad  and  is  relieved  by  two  wavy 
lines.  The  axis  of  the  design  on  each  side  is  continued  into  two  triangular  spurs, 
rising  from  a  rectangle  in  the  middle  of  each  triangle.  This  complicated  design  is 
the  highest  development  reached  by  the  use  of  simple  triangles.  In  Fig.  61,  how- 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  85 

ever,  we  have  a  simpler  form  of  decoration,  in  which  no  element  other  than  the 
rectangle  is  employed.     In  the  chaste  decoration  seen  in  Fig.  62   the  use  of  the 


FIG.  61 — Triangle  with  spurs 

rectangle  is  shown  combined  with  the  triangle  on  a  simple  encircling  band.     This 
design  is  reducible  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  60,  but  it  is  simpler,  yet  not  less  effective. 


FIG.  62 — Rectangle  with  single  line 

In  Fig.  63  there  is  an  aberrant  form  of  design  in  which  the  triangle  is  used 
in  combination  with  parallel  and  oblique  bands.     This  form,  while  one  of  the  sim- 


FIG.  63 — Double  triangle;  multiple  lines 

plest  in  its  elements,  is  effective  and  characteristic.  The  triangle  predominates  in 
Fig.  64,  but  the  details  are  worked  out  in  rectangular  patterns,  producing  the  ter- 
raced designs  so  common  in  all  Pueblo  decorations.  Rectangular  figures  are  more 


FIG.  64 — Double  triangle;  terraced  edges 

commonly  used  than  the  triangular  in  the  decoration  of  the  exterior  of  bowls,  and 
their  many  combinations  are  often  very  perplexing  to  analyze. 


86 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


In  Fig.  65,  starting  with  the  simple  encircling  band,  it  is  found  divided  into 
alternating  rectangles.    The  line  is  continuous,  and  hence  one  side  of  each  rectangle 


FIG.  65 — Single  line;  closed  fret 


is  not  complete.  Both  this  design  and  its  modification  in  Fig.  66  consist  of  an 
unbroken  line  of  equal  breadth  throughout.  In  the  latter  figure,  however,  the  open- 
ings in  the  sides  are  larger  or  the  approach  to  a  straight  line  closer.  The  forms 


FIG.  66 — Single  line ;  open  fret 


are  strictly  rectangular,  with  no  additional  elements.  Fig.  67  introduces  an  impor- 
tant modification  of  the  rectangular  motive,  consisting  of  a  succession  of  lines  broken 
at  intervals,  but  when  joined  always  arranged  at  right  angles. 


FIG.  67 — Single  line;  broken  fret 

Possibly  the  least  complex  form  of  rectangular  ornamentation,  next  to  a  simple 
bar  or  square,  is  the  combination  shown  in  Fig.  68,  a  type  in  which  many  changes 
are  made  in  interior  as  well  as  in  exterior  decoration  of  Pueblo  ware.  One  of  these 


FIG.  68 — Single  line;  parts  displaced 

is  shown  in  Fig.  69,  where  the  figure  about  the  vessel  is  continuous.  An  analysis 
of  the  elements  in  Fig.  70  shows  squares  united  at  their  angles,  like  the  last,  but 
that  in  addition  to  parallel  bands  connecting  adjacent  figures  there  are  two  marginal 


FIG.  69— Open  fret ;  attachment  displaced 


bands  uniting  the  series.  Each  of  the  inner  parallel  lines  is  bound  to  a  marginal  on 
the  opposite  side  by  a  band  at  right  angles  to  it.  The  marginal  lines  are  unbroken 
through  the  length  of  the  figure.  Like  the  last,  this  motive  also  may  be  regarded  as 
developed  from  a  single  line. 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  87 

Figs.   71   and  72   are  even  simpler  than  the  design  shown  in  Fig.   69,  with 
appended  square  key  patterns,  all  preserving  rectangular  forms  and  destitute  of  all 


FIG.  70  —  Simple  rectangular  design 


others.     They  are  of  S-form,  and  differ  more  especially  in  the  character  of  their 
appendages. 


FIG.  71 — Rectangular  reversed  S-form 


FIG.  72 — Rectangular  S-form  with  crooks 

While  the  same  rectangular  idea  predominates  in  Fig.  73,  it  is  worked  out 
with  the  introduction  of  triangles  and  quadrilateral  designs.  This  fairly  com- 
pound pattern,  however,  is  still  classified  among  rectangular  forms.  A  combination 
of  rectangular  and  triangular  geometric  designs,  in  which,  however,  the  former 


73 — Rectangular  S-form  with  triangles 


predominate,  is  shown  in  Fig.  74,  which  can  readily  be  reduced  to  certain  of  those 
forms   already  mentioned.     The   triangles  appear  to  be  subordinated   to   the   rect- 


88  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

angles,  and  even  they  are  fringed  on  their  longer  sides  with  terraced  forms.     It 
may  be  said  that  there  but  two  elements  involved,  the  rectangle  and  the  triangle. 


FIG.  74 — Rectangular  S-form  with  terraced  triangles 

The  decoration  in  Fig.  75  consists  of  rectangular  and  triangular  figures,  the 
latter  so  closely  approximated  as  to  leave  zigzag  lines  in  white.  These  lines  are 
simply  highly  modified  breaks  in  bands  which  join  in  other  designs,  and  lead  by 
comparison  to  the  so-called  "  line  of  life "  which  many  of  these  figures  illustrate. 


FIG.  75 — S-form  with  interdigitating  spurs 

The  distinctive  feature  of  Fig.  76  is  the  square,  with  rectangular  designs 
appended  to  diagonally  opposite  angles  and  small  triangles  at  intermediate  corners. 
These  designs  have  a  distant  resemblance  to  figures  later  referred  to  as  highly  con- 
ventionalized birds,  although  they  may  be  merely  simple  geometrical  patterns  which 
have  lost  their  symbolic  meaning. 


FIG.  76 — Square  with  rectangles  and  parallel  lines 


Fig.  77  shows  a  complicated  design,  introducing  at  least  two  elements  in  addi- 
tion to  rectangles  and  triangles.  One  of  these  is  a  curved  crook  etched  on  a  black 
ground.  In  no  other  exterior  decoration  have  curved  lines  been  found  except  in  the 
form  of  circles,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  figures  are 
drawn  in  straight  lines.  The  circular  figures  with  three  parallel  lines  extending 
from  them  are  found  so  constantly  in  exterior  decorations,  and  are  so  strikingly  like 
some  of  the  figures  elsewhere  discussed,  that  I  have  ventured  a  suggestion  in  regard 
to  their  meaning.  I  believe  they  represent  feathers,  because  the  tail  feathers  of  cer- 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS 


89 


tain  birds  are  symbolized  in  that  manner,  and  their  number  corresponds  with  those 
generally  depicted  in  the  highly  conventionalized  tails  of  birds. 


FIG.  77 — Rectangles,  triangles,  stars,  and  feathers 

In  Fig.  78  a  number  of  these  parallel  lines  are  represented,  and  the  general 
character  of   the   design   is   rectangular.     In   Fig.   79   is  shown  a  combination  of 


FIG.  78 — Crook,  feathers,  and  parallel  lines 

rectangular  and  triangular  figures  with  three  tapering  points  and  circles  with  lines 
at  their  tips  radiating  instead  of  parallel.     Another  modification  is  shown  in  Fig. 


FIG.  79 — Crooks  and  feathers 

80  in  which  the  triangle  predominates,  and  Fig.  81  evidently  represents  one-half  of 
a  similar  device  with  modifications. 


FIG.  80 — Rectangle,  triangles,  and  feathers 


One  of  the  most  common  designs  on  ancient  pottery  is  the  stepped  figure,  a 
rectangular  ornamentation,  modifications  of  which  are  shown  in  Figs.  82,  83,  and 
84.  This  is  a  very  common  design  on  the  interior  of  food  vessels,  where  it  is  com- 
monly interpreted  as  a  rain-cloud  symbol. 


.  gi — Terraced  crook,  triangle,  and  feather 


Of  all  patterns  on  ancient  Tusayan  ware,  that  of  the  terrace  figures  most 
closely  resemble  the  geometrical  ornamentation  of  cliff-house  pottery,  and  there 
seems  every  reason  to  suppose  that  this  form  of  design  admits  of  a  like  interpreta- 
tion. The  evolution  of  this  pattern  from  plaited  basketry  has  been  ably  discussed 


9o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

by  Holmes  and  Nordenskiold.  The  terraced  forms  from  the  exterior  of  the  food 
bowls  here  considered  are  highly  aberrant;  they  may  be  forms  of  survivals,  motives 
of  decoration  which  have  persisted  from  very  early  times.  Whatever  the  origin  of 
the  stepped  figure  in  Pueblo  art  was,  it  is  well  to  remember,  as  shown  by  Holmes, 


Fio.  82 — Double  key 


that  it  is  "impossible  to  show  that  any  particular  design  of  the  highly  constituted 
kind  was  desired  through  a  certain  identifiable  series  of  progressive  steps." 

For  some  unknown  reason  the  majority  of  the  simple  designs  on  the  exterior 
of  food  bowls  from  Tusayan  are  rectangular,  triangular,  or  linear  in  their  charac- 


FiQ.  83 — Triangular  terrace 


ter.     Many  can  be  reduced  to  simple  or  multiple  lines.     Others  were  suggested  by 
plaited  ware. 

In  Fig.  82  is  found  one  of  the  simplest  of  rectangular  designs,  a  simple  band, 
key  pattern  in  form,  at  one  end,  with  a  re-entrant  square  depression  at  the  opposite 


FIG.  84 — Crook,  serrate  end 

extremity.  In  Fig.  83  is  an  equally  simple  terrace  pattern  with  stepped  figures  at  the 
ends  and  in  the  middle.  These  forms  are  common  decorative  elements  on  the 
exterior  of  jars  and  vases,  where  they  occur  in  many  combinations,  all  of  which  are 
reducible  to  these  types.  The  simplest  form  of  the  key  pattern  is  shown  in  Fig.  84, 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  91 

and  in  Fig.  85  there  is  a  second  modification  of  the  same  design  a  little  more  compli- 
cated. This  becomes  somewhat  changed  in  Fig.  86,  not  only  by  the  modifications 
of  the  two  extremities,  but  also  by  the  addition  of  a  median  geometric  figure. 


FIG.  85 — Key  pattern;  rectangle  and  triangles 


FIG.  86 — Rectangle  and  crook 

The  design  in  Fig.  87  is  rectangular,  showing  a  key  pattern  at  one  end,  with 
two  long  feathers  at  the  opposite  extremity.  The  five  bodies  on  the  same  end  of  the 
figure  are  unique  and  comparable  with  conventionalized  star  emblems.  The  series 
of  designs  in  the  upper  left-hand  end  of  this  figure  are  unlike  any  which  have  yet 
been  found  on  the  exterior  of  food  bowls,  but  are  similar  to  designs  which  have 
elsewhere  been  interpreted  as  feathers.  On  the  hypothesis  that  these  two  parts  of 
the  figure  are  tail-feathers,  we  find  in  the  crook  the  analogue  of  the  head  of  a  bird. 
The  five  dentate  bodies  on  the  lower  left-hand  end  of  the  figure  also  tell  in  favor  of 
the  avian  character  of  the  design,  for  the  following  reason:  These  bodies  are  often 
found  accompanying  figures  of  conventionalized  birds.  They  are  regarded  as  modi- 
fied crosses  of  equal  arms,  which  are  all  but  universally  present  in  combinations  with 
birds  and  feathers,  from  the  fact  that  in  a  line  of  crosses  depicted  on  a  bowl  one 


FIG.  87— Crook  and  tail  feathers 


of  the  crosses  is  replaced  by  a  design  of  similar  character.  The  arms  of  the  cross 
are  represented;  their  intersection  is  left  in  white.  The  interpretation  of  Fig.  87 
as  a  highly  conventionalized  bird  design  is  also  in  accord  with  the  same  interpreta- 
tion of  a  number  of  similar,  although  less  complicated,  figures  which  appear  with 
crosses.  Fig.  88  may  be  compared  with  Fig.  87. 


92  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Numerous  modifications  of  a  key  pattern,  often  assuming  a  double  triangular 
form,  but  with  rectangular  elements,  are  found  on  the  exterior  of  many  food  bowls. 


FIG.  88 — Rectangle,  triangle,  and  serrate  spurs 

These  are  variations  of  a  pattern,  the  simplest  form  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  89. 
Resolving  this  figure  into  two  parts  by  drawing  a  median  line,  we  find  the  arrange- 
ment is  bilaterally  symmetrical,  the  two  sides  exactly  corresponding.  Each  side 
consists  of  a  simple  key  pattern  with  the  shank  inclined  to  the  rim  of  the  bowl  and 
a  bird  emblem  at  its  junction  with  the  other  member. 


FIG.  89 — W-pattern;  terminal  crooks 


In  Fig.  90  there  is  a  greater  development  of  this  pattern  by  an  elaboration  of 
the  key,  which  is  continued  in  a  line  resembling  a  square  spiral.  There  are  also 
dentations  on  a  section  of  the  edge  of  the  lines. 


FIG.  90— W-pattern ;  terminal  rectangles 


In  Fig.  91  there  is  a  still  further  development  of  the  same  design  and  a  lack 
of  symmetry  on  the  two  sides.    The  square  spirals  are  replaced  on  the  left  by  three 


FIG.  91— W-pattern,  terminal  terraces,  and  crooks 

introduced  in  the  arms  of  a 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS 


93 


In  Fig.  92  the  same  design  is  again  somewhat  changed  by  modification  of  the 
spirals  into  three  triangles  rimmed  on  one  side  with  a  row  of  dots,  which  are  also 
found  on  the  outer  lines  surrounding  the  lower  part  of  the  design. 


Fia.  92 — W-pattern ;  terminal  spurs 


In  Fig.  93  the  same  W-shape  design  is  preserved,  but  the  space  in  the  lower 
re-entrant  angle  is  occupied  by  a  symmetrical  figure  resembling  two  tail  feathers  and 
the  extremity  of  the  body  of  a  bird.  The  median  figure  is  replaced  in  Fig.  94  by 


FIG.  93 — W-pattern;  bird  form 

a  triangular  ornament.  In  this  design  the  two  wings  are  not  symmetrical,  but  no 
new  decorative  element  is  introduced.  It  will  be  noticed,  however,  that  there  is  a 
want  of  symmetry  on  the  two  sides  of  a  vertical  line  in  the  figure  last  mentioned. 


FIG.  94 — W-pattern ;  median  triangle 


The  right-hand  upper  side  is  continued  into  five  pointed  projections,  which  fail  on  the 
left-hand  side.  There  is  likewise  a  difference  in  the  arrangement  of  the  terraced 
figures  in  the  two  parts.  The  sides  of  the  median  triangles  are  formed  of  alternating 


94 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


black  and  white  blocks,  and  the  quadrate  figure  which  it  incloses  is  etched  with  a 
diagonal  and  cross. 

The  decoration  in  Fig.  95  consists  of  two  triangles  side  by  side,  each  having 
marginal  serrations,  and  a  median  square  key  pattern.     One  side  of  these  triangles 


FIG.  95 — Double  triangle;  two  breath  feathers 

is  continued  into  a  line  from  which  hang  two  breath  feathers,  while  the  other  end 
of  the  same  line  ends  in  a  round  dot  with  four  radiating  straight  lines.  The  tri- 
angles recall  the  butterfly  symbol,  the  key  pattern  representing  the  head. 


PIG.  96 — W- triangle;  median  trapezoid 

In  Fig.  96  there  is  a  still  more  aberrant  form  of  the  W-shape  design.  The 
wings  are  folded,  ending  in  triangles,  and  prolonged  at  their  angles  into  projections 
to  which  are  appended  round  dots  with  three  parallel  lines.  The  median  portion, 


FIG.  97 — Double  triangle ;  median  rectangle 

or  that  in  the  re-entrant  angle  of  the  W,  is  a  four-sided  figure  in  which  the  triangle 
predominates  with  notched  edges.  Fig.  97  shows  the  same  design  with  the  median 
portion  replaced  by  a  rectangle,  and  in  which  the  key  pattern  has  wholly  disap- 


FIG.  98 — Double  compound  triangle;  median  rectangle 

peared  from  the  wings.     In  Fig.  98  there  are  still  greater  modifications,  but  the 
symmetry  about  a  median  axis  remains.     The  ends  of  the  wings,  instead  of  being 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS 


95 


folded  are  expanded,  and  the  three  triangles  formerly  inclosed  are  now  free  and 
extended.  The  simple  median  rectangle  is  ornamented  with  a  terrace  pattern  on 
its  lower  angles. 


FIG.  99 — Double  triangle;  median  triangle 


Fig.  99  shows  a  design  in  which  the  extended  triangles  are  even  more  regular 
and  simple,  with  triangular  terraced  figures  on  their  inner  edges.  The  median 
figure  is  a  triangle  instead  of  a  rectangle. 


FIG.  100 — Double  compound  triangle 

Fig.  100  shows  the  same  design  with  modification  in  the  position  of  the  median 
figure,  and  a  slight  curvature  in  two  of  its  sides. 


FIG.  101 — Double  rectangle;  median  rectangle 

Somewhat  similar  designs,  readily  reduced  to  the  same  type  as  the  last  three  or 
four  which  have  been  mentioned,  are  shown  in  Figs.  101  and  102.  The  resemblances 
are  so  close  that  I  need  not  refer  to  them  in  detail.  The  W  form  is  wholly  lost, 


FIG.  102 — Double  rectangle ;  median  triangle 


and  there  is  no  resemblance  to  a  bird,  even  in  its  most  highly  conventionalized  forms. 
The  median  design  in  Fig.  101  consists  of  a  rectangle  and  two  triangles  so  arranged 
as  to  leave  a  rectangular  white  space  between  them.  In  Fig.  IO2  the  median  tri- 
angle is  crossed  by  parallel  and  vertical  zigzag  lines. 


96  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

In  the  design  represented  in  Fig.  103  there  are  two  triangular  figures,  one  on 
each  side  of  a  median  line,  in  relation  to  which  they  are  symmetrical.  Each  triangle 
has  a  simple  key  pattern  in  the  middle,  and  the  line  from  which  they  appear  to 


FIG.  103 — Double  triangle  with  crooks 


hang  is  blocked  off  with  alternating  black  and  white  rectangles.    At  either  extremity 
of  this  line  there  is  a  circular  dot  from  which  extend  four  parallel  lines. 

A  somewhat  simpler  form  of  the  same  design  is  found  in  Fig.  104,  showing  a 
straight  line  above  terminating  with  dots,   from  which  extend  parallel  lines,  and 


FIG.  104 — W-shaped  figure ;  single  line  with  feathers 

two  triangular  figures  below,  symmetrically  placed  in  reference  to  an  hypothetical 
upright  line  between  them. 

Fig.  105  bears  a  similarity  to  the  last  mentioned  only  so  far  as  the  lower  half 
of  the  design  is  concerned.     The  upper  part  is  not  symmetrical,  but  no  new  dec- 


FIG.  105 — Compound  rectangle,  triangles,  and  feathers 

orative  element  is  introduced.     Triangles,  frets,   and   terraced  figures  are  inserted 
between  two  parallel  lines  which  terminate  in  round  dots  with  parallel  lines. 

The  design  in  Fig.   106  is  likewise  unsymmetrical,  but  it  has  two  lateral  tri- 
angles with   incurved   terrace   and   dentate   patterns.     The  same   general   form   is 


FIG.  106— Double  triangle 


exhibited  in  Fig.  107,  with  the  introduction  of  two  pointed  appendages  facing  the 
hypothetical  middle  line.  From  the  general  form  of  these  pointed  designs,  each  of 
which  is  double,  they  have  been  interpreted  as  feathers.  They  closely  resemble  the 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS 


97 


tail-feathers  of  bird  figures  on  several  bowls  in  the  collection,  as  will  be  seen  in  sev- 
eral of  the  illustrations. 


FIG.  107 — Double  triangle  and  feathers 


Fig.  1 08  is  composed  of  two  triangular  designs  fused  at  the  greatest  angles. 
The  regularity  of  these  triangles  is  broken  by  a  square  space  at  the  fusion.  At  each 
of  the  acute  angles  of  the  two  triangles  there  are  circular  designs  with  radiating 


FIG.  108 — Twin  triangles 


lines,  a  common  motive  on  the  exterior  of  food  bowls.  Although  no  new  elements 
appear  in  Fig.  108,  with  the  exception  of  the  bracket  marks,  one  on  each  side  of  a 
circle,  the  arrangement  of  the  two  parts  about  a  line  parallel  with  the  rim  of  the 
bowl  imparts  to  the  design  a  unique  form.  The  motive  in  Fig.  109  is  reducible  to 


FIG.  109 — Triangle  with  terraced  appendages 

triangular  and  rectangular  forms,  and  while  exceptional  as  to  their  arrangement,  no 
new  decorative  feature  is  introduced. 

The  specimen  represented  in  Fig.  no  has  as  its  decorative  elements,  rectangles, 
triangles,  parallel  lines,  and  birds'  tails,  to  which  may  be  added  star  and  Crosshatch 


FIG.  110 — Mosaic  pattern 

motives.  It  is,  therefore,  the  most  complicated  of  all  the  exterior  decorations  which 
have  thus  far  been  considered.  There  is  no  symmetry  in  the  arrangement  of  figures 
about  a  central  axis,  but  rather  a  repetition  of  similar  designs. 


98 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


The  use  of  crosshatching  is  very  common  on  the  most  ancient  Pueblo  ware, 
and  is  very  common  in  designs  on  cliff-house  pottery.  This  style  of  decoration  is 
only  sparingly  used  on  Sikyatki  ware.  The  crosshatching  is  provisionally  inter- 
preted as  a  mosaic  pattern,  and  reminds  one  of  the  beautiful  forms  of  turquoise 
mosaic  on  shell,  bone,  or  wood,  found  in  ancient  pueblos,  and  best  known  in  modern 
times  in  the  square  ear  pendants  of  Hopi  women.  Fig.  1 10  is  one  of  the  few  designs 


Pio.  Ill — Rectangles,  stars,  crooks,  and  parallel  lines 

having  terraced  figures  with  short  parallel  lines  descending  from  them.  These 
figures  vividly  recall  the  rain-cloud  symbol  with  falling  rain  represented  by  the 
parallel  lines.  Fig.  1 1 1  is  a  perfectly  symmetrical  design  with  figures  of  stars,  rect- 
angles, and  parallel  lines.  It  may  be  compared  with  that  shown  in  Fig.  no  in  order 
to  demonstrate  how  wide  the  difference  in  design  may  become  by  the  absence  of 
symmetrical  relationship.  It  has  been  shown  in  some  of  the  previous  motives  that 
the  crook  sometimes  represents  a  bird's  head,  and  parallel  lines  appended  to  it  the 
tail-feathers.  Possibly  the  same  interpretation  may  be  given  to  these  designs  in  the 


FIG.  112 — Continuous  crooks 

following  figures,  and  the  presence  of  stars  adjacent  to  them  lends  weight  to  this 
hypothesis. 

An  indefinite  repetition  of  the  same  pattern  of  rectangular  design  is  shown  in 
Fig.  112.  This  highly  decorative  motive  may  be  varied  indefinitely  by  extension  or 
concentration,  and  while  it  is  modified  in  that  manner  in  many  of  the  decorations 
of  vases,  it  is  not  so  changed  on  the  exterior  of  food  bowls. 

There  are  a  number  of  forms  which  I  am  unable  to  classify  with  the  foregoing, 
none  of  which  show  any  new  decorative  design.  All  possible  changes  have  been  made 


FIG.  113 — Rectangular  terrace  pattern 

in  them  without  abandoning  the  elemental  ornamental  motives  already  considered. 
The  tendency  to  step  or  terrace  patterns  predominates,  as  exemplified  in  simple  form 
in  Fig.  113.  In  Fig.  114  there  is  a  different  arrangement  of  the  same  terrace  pattern, 
and  the  design  is  helped  out  with  parallel  bands  of  different  length  at  the  ends  of  a 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS  99 

rectangular  figure.    A  variation  in  the  depth  of  color  of  these  lines  adds  to  the  effective- 
ness of  the  design.    This  style  of  ornamentation  is  successfully  used  in  the  designs  rep- 


FIG.  114 — Terrace  pattern  with  parallel  lines 

resented  in  Figs.  115  and  116,  in  the  body  of  which  a  crescentic  figure  in  the  black 
serves  to  add  variety  to  a  design  otherwise  monotonous.    The  two  appendages  to  the 


FIG.  115 — Terrace  pattern 

right  of  Fig.  116  are  interpreted  as  feathers,  although  their  forms  depart  widely  from 
that  usually  assumed  by  these  designs.    The  terraced  patterns  are  replaced  by  dentate 


FIG.  116 — Triangular  pattern  with  feathers 


margins  in  this  figure,  and  there  is  a  successful  use  of  most  of  the  rectangular  and 
triangular  designs. 


FIG.  117 — S-pattern 

In  the  specimens  represented  in  Figs.  117  and  118  marginal  dentations  are  used. 
I  have  called  the  design  referred  to  an  S-form,  which,  however,  owing  to  its  elongation 
is  somewhat  masked.  The  oblique  bar  in  the  middle  of  the  figure  represents  the  body 
of  the  letter,  the  two  extremities  taking  the  forms  of  triangles. 


IOO 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


So  far  as  the  decorative  elements  are  concerned,  the  design  in  Fig.  119  can  be 
compared  with  some  of  those  preceding,  but  it  differs  from  them  in  combination.    The 


FIG.  118 — Triangular  and  terrace  figures 


FIG.  119 — Crook,  terrace,  and  parallel  lines 


FIG.  120 — Triangles,  squares,  and  terraces 

motive  in  Fig.  120  is  not  unlike  the  ornamentation  of  certain  oriental  vases,  except  from 
the  presence  of  the  terraced  figures.     In  Fig.  121  there  are  two  designs  separated  by 


FIG.  121 — Bifurcated  rectangular  design 

an  inclined  break  the  edge  of  which  is  dentate.    This  figure  is  introduced  to  show  the 
method  of  treatment  of  alternating  triangles  of  varying  depth  of  color  and  the  breaks 


FIG.  122— Infolded  triangles 

in  the  marginal  bands  or  "  lines  of  life."  One  of  the  simplest  combinations  of  trian- 
gular and  rectangular  figures  is  shown  in  Fig.  122,  proving  how  effectually  the  original 
design  may  be  obscured  by  concentration. 


NAVAHO  BLANKET  DESIGNS 


101 


In  the  foregoing  descriptions  I  have  endeavored  to  demonstrate  that,  Notwith- 
standing the  great  variety  of  designs  considered,  the  types  used  are  yfiry'  iirrrited^irr 
number.  The  geometrical  forms  are  rarely  curved  lines,  and  rt  may  be  said  that 
spirals,  which  appear  so  constantly  on  pottery  from  other  (and  possibly  equally  ancient 
or  older)  pueblos  than  Sikyatki,  are  absent  in  the  external  decorations  of  specimens 
found  in  the  ruins  of  the  latter  village. 

Every  student  of  ancient  and  modern  pueblo  pottery  has  been  impressed  by  the 
predominance  of  terraced  figures  in  its  ornamentation,  and  the  meaning  of  these  ter- 
races has  elsewhere  been  spoken  of  at  some  length.  It  would,  I  believe,  be  going  too 
far  to  say  that  these  step  designs  always  represent  clouds,  as  in  some  instances  they 


FIG.  123 — Human  hand 

are  produced  by  such  an  arrangement  of  rectangular  figures  that  no  other  forms  could 
result. 

The  material  at  hand  adds  nothing  new  to  the  theory  of  the  evolution  of  the  ter- 
raced ornament  from  basketry  or  textile  productions,  so  ably  discussed  by  Holmes, 
Nordenskiold,  and  others.  When  the  Sikyatki  potters  decorated  their  ware  the  orna- 
mentation of  pottery  had  reached  a  high  development,  and  figures  both  simple  and  com- 
plicated were  used  contemporaneously.  While,  therefore,  we  can  so  arrange  them  as 
to  make  a  series,  tracing  modifications  from  simple  to  complex  designs,  thus  forming 
a  supposed  line  of  evolution,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  no  proof  that  the  simplest  figures 
are  the  oldest.  The  great  number  of  terraced  figures  and  their  use  in  the  representa- 


FIG.  124 — Animal  paw,  limb  and  triangle 

tion  of  animals  seem  to  me  to  indicate  that  they  antedate  all  others,  and  I  see  no 
reason  why  they  should  not  have  been  derived  from  basketry  patterns.  We  must, 
however,  look  to  pottery  with  decorations  less  highly  developed  for  evidence  bearing 
on  this  point.  The  Sikyatki  artists  had  advanced  beyond  simple  geometric  figures,  and 
had  so  highly  modified  these  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the  primitive  form. 

The  human  hand  also  is  used  as  a  decorative  element  in  the  ornamentation  of  the 
interior  of  several  food  bowls.  It  is  likewise  in  one  instance  chosen  to  adorn  the 
exterior.  It  is  the  only  part  of  the  human  limbs  thus  used.  Figure  123  shows  the 
hand  with  marks  on  the  palm  probably  intended  to  represent  the  lines  which  are  used 
in  the  measurement  of  the  length  of  pahos  or  prayer-sticks. 


102  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

The  limb  of  an  animal  with  a  paw,  or  possibly  a  human  arm  and  hand,  appears" 
-as  a;d#£rationiori  the  outside  of  another  food  bowl,  where  it  is  combined  with  the 
ever-constant :  stepped  figure,  as  shown  in  Fig.  124. 

To  summarize  the  subject,  then,  is  it  not  apparent  that,  with  such  a 
wealth  of  suggestive  material  around  her  on  every  hand,  the  Navaho 
weaver  could  scarcely  avoid  becoming  a  master  in  the  art  of  design? 
With  this  extraordinary  environment  of  art  suggestions  and  the  instinctive 
individuality  of  the  weaver  asserting  itself,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  a 
remarkable  variety  of  new  designs  would  be  invented  or  created,  and  that 
old  designs  would  take  on  new  forms  by  mutation,  and  would  be  placed 
together  in  new,  unique,  striking,  and  attractive  combinations.  Here, 
therefore,  I  think  we  find  the  fullest  and  most  satisfactory  explanation  of 
the  remarkable  wealth  of  design  found  in  Navaho  blanketry. 


FIG.  125.  J^  ,»% 

Navaho  Weaver  at  Her  Open-Air  Loom. 

(Copyright  by  George  R.  King.     Used  by  permission.) 


CHAPTER  XIII 
A  Navaho  Weaver  at  Work 

of  the  first  great  surprises  to  a  white  visitor  to  the  Navaho 

reservation  is  that  he  sees  so  few  Indians  or  their  dwellings.  Mile 
after  mile  he  drives  over  the  roads  through  the  heart  of  what  seems 
to  be  an  entirely  unpeopled  country,  save  for  the  occasional  teams  he  may 
meet,  or  the  solitary  Navaho  horseman  who  now  and  again  passes  with  a 
word,  or  in  silence.  He  thinks  the  barren  and  waterless  nature  of  the 
country  may  have  to  do  with  this  absence  of  population,  and  in  this  he  is 
largely  correct.  It  is  only  where  water  is  to  be  found  —  at  least  not  too 
far  away  —  that  the  Navaho  establishes  his  residence.  There  must  also 
be  a  patch  of  arable  land  within  reasonable  proximity  to  supply  him  with 
the  corn  that  is  his  daily  food.  Here,  then,  he  builds  his  hogan;  if  for 
summer  use,  a  temporary  structure  of  brush,  a  rude  lean-to  against  the 
wall  of  a  canyon  or  an  excavated  bank,  or  a  mere  circular  shelter  of 
green  boughs,  made  in  half  an  hour  by  a  couple  of  men  skilled  in  the  use 
of  the  axe.  If  it  is  a  permanent- winter  hogan  it  is  built  with  the  solemn 
and  serious  earnestness  which  characterizes  all  the  important  features 
of  a  Navaho's  life. 

No  sooner  is  the  household  "settled"  than  a  framework  is  erected 
outside,  merely  covered  with  brush,  arrow-weed,  or  tules  to  keep  off  the 
sun's  rays,  and  under  this  the  loom  is  set  up.  Some  hogans  are  built  large 
enough  to  accommodate  the  loom,  but  in  summer  it  is  always  in  the  open, 
merely  placed  so  that  during  the  working  hours  of  the  day  it  is  in  the 
shade. 

Not  infrequently  the  loom  is  set  up  in  the  open,  the  weaver  so 
placing  it  that  the  sun's  rays  will  not  disturb  her  at  the  time  she  expects 
to  work.  Such  a  loom  is  pictured  in  Fig.  125,  made  from  a  copyright 
photograph  by  George  R.  King,  of  Pasadena. 

The  Navaho  loom  is  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  primitive  ingenuity 
and  effectiveness.  While  there  are  diversities  in  details,  in  the  main 
practically  they  are  all  alike.  The  accompanying  illustration,  Fig.  126,  is 
from  Dr.  Matthews's  admirable  monograph  on  "  Navaho  Weavers," 
which  appears  in  the  Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  description  is  in  the  author's  own 
words.  Two  upright  posts  set  firmly  in  the  ground,  wide  enough  (a  a) 

103 


104 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


apart  to  accommodate  the  full  width  of  the  blanket  to  be  woven,  are  braced 
together  top  and  bottom  by  equally  strong  cross  pieces  (be).  Trunks 
of  small  growing  trees  are  occasionally  used  as  the  necessary  uprights. 
This  may  be  called  the  frame  in  which  the  loom  is  to  be  lashed.  The 
loom  proper  has  its  lower  beam  (k)  and  upper  beam  (d).  On  neither 
of  these,  however,  is  the  warp  wound.  The  warp  is  tied  at  the  top  to 
a  border  cord  (/z),  and  also  at  the  bottom.  This  border  cord  (h  h)  is 
lashed  or  tied  with  rope  coils  (e  e)  to  the  upper  and  lower  loom  beams 
and  the  warp  is  thus  securely  placed.  But  before  weaving  can  be  done 


FIG.  126 — Ordinary  Navaho  blanket  loom 

/ 

this  warp  must  be  fixed  firmly  in  the  frame  and  stretched  tightly,  as  the 
work  demands.  This  is  done  by  first  of  all  lashing  the  lower  beam  (k) 
to  the  lower  brace  (c)  of  the  frame.  Then  a  new  stout  brace  or  beam  is 
introduced  at  the  top  of  the  loom,  which  Dr.  Matthews  appropriately  terms 
a  supplementary  yarn-beam."  This  is  firmly  and  securely  lashed  to  the 
upper  yarn-beam  (/),  and  then,  with  a  strong  rawhide,  which  is  wrapped 
spirally  or  ^ tied  (g  g)  around  the  upper  brace  of  the  loom-frame,  the 
warp  (it)  is  made  as  taut  as  the  weaver  desires. 

This  supplementary  beam  also  serves  another  purpose.  The  blanket 
is  woven  from  the  bottom.  The  weaver  squats  in  front  of  her  work,  and 
as  soon  as  weaving  is  done  as  high  as  her  arms  find  it  convenient  she 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK         105 

loosens  the  rawhide  lashing  of  the  supplementary  yarn-beam  and  folds 
the  woven  part  of  her  blanket,  securely  sewing  the  upper  part  of  the  fold 
to  the  lower  beam.  The  rawhide  lashings  are  again  pulled  tight,  and  this 
is  sometimes  done  so  thoroughly  that  the  marks  of  the  sewing  remain 
in  the  blanket  for  years,  sometimes  even  as  long  as  the  blanket  itself 
lasts. 

A  loose  flat  stick,  sharpened  on  one  side,  and  some  two  feet  long, 
and,  say,  three  inches  broad  is  the  batten  stick  (I).  This  is  loose  and 
inserted  by  the  weaver  whenever  and  wherever  desired  to  "batten,"  or 
beat  down,  the  weft  snug  into  place. 

A  long  slender  circular  stick  serves  as  a  heald-rod.  The  healds  are 
made  of  cord  or  yarn  fastened  to  a  rod  (w),  and  are  tied  to  alternate 
threads  of  the  warp.  This  heald-rod  (m)  serves,  when  pulled  forward, 
to  open  the  shed  for  the  insertion  of  the  shuttle.  The  upper  shed  is  kept 
patent  by  a  stout  rod  which  has  no  healds  attached,  and  called  by  Mat- 
thews the  shed-rod  (n).  A  small  several-toothed  wooden  fork  serves  the 
purpose  of  the  reed  in  our  looms,  and  is  used  by  the  weaver  to  press  in 


Pole  No.  2 


FIG.  127 — Diagram  showing  formation  of  warp 

place  the  weft  where  it  is  irregularly  woven,  or  does  not  go  completely 
across  the  warp  where  it  can  be  wedged  home  with  the  batten  stick. 

Now  let  us  see  the  weaver  actually  at  her  work.  We  will  assume 
that  all  prior  processes  are  completed.  The  weaver  has  washed,  spun,  and 
dyed  the  wool,  she  has  decided  upon  the  size  of  her  blanket,  and  formu- 
lated in  her  active  and  imaginative  brain  the  design  that  she  intends  to 
materialize.  She  is  now  ready,  therefore,  for  the  preparing  or  construct- 
ing of  the  warp.  Dr.  Matthews  thus  clearly  and  graphically  describes 
the  process: 

A  frame  of  four  sticks  is  made,  not  unlike  the  frame  of  the  loom,  but  lying  on  or 
near  the  ground,  instead  of  standing  erect.  The  two  sticks  forming  the  sides  of  the 
frame  are  rough  saplings  or  rails;  the  two  forming  the  top  and  bottom  are  smooth, 
rounded  poles  —  often  the  poles  which  afterwards  serve  as  the  beams  of  the  loom;  these 
are  placed  parallel  to  one  another,  their  distance  apart  depending  on  the  length  of  the 
projected  blanket. 

On  these  poles  the  warp  is  laid  in  a  continuous  string.  It  is  first  firmly  tied  to 
one  of  the  poles,  which  I  call  No.  I  (Fig.  127) ;  then  is  passed  over  the  other  pole, 
No.  2,  brought  back  under  No.  2  and  over  No.  I,  forward  again  under  No.  I  and 
over  No.  2,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  Thus  the  first,  third,  fifth,  etc.,  turns  of  the  cord 
cross  in  the  middle,  the  second,  fourth,  sixth,  etc.,  forming  a  series  of  elongated 
figures  8,  as  shown  in  the  following  diagram  —  and  making,  in  the  very  beginning 
of  the  process,  the  two  sheds,  which  are  kept  distinct  throughout  the  whole  work. 


io6  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

When  sufficient  string  has  been  laid  the  end  is  tied  to  pole  No.  2,  and  a  rod  is  placed 
in  each  shed  to  keep  it  open,  the  rods  being  afterwards  tied  together  at  the  ends 
to  prevent  them  from  falling  out. 

This  done,  the  weaver  takes  three  strings  (which  are  afterwards  twilled  into 
one,  as  will  appear)  and  ties  them  together  at  one  end.  She  now  sits  outside  of  one 
of  the  poles,  looking  toward  the  center  of  the  frame,  and  proceeds  thus:  (i)  She 
secures  the  triple  cord  to  the  pole  immediately  to  the  left  of  the  warp;  (2)  then 
she  takes  one  of  the  threads  (or  strands,  as  they  now  become)  and  passes  it  under  the 
first  turn  of  the  warp;  (3)  next  she  takes  a  second  strand,  and  twilling  it  once,  or 
oftener,  with  the  other  strands,  includes  with  it  the  second  bend  of  the  warp;  (4) 
this  done,  she  takes  the  third  strand  and,  twilling  it  as  before,  passes  it  under  the 
third  bend  of  the  warp,  and  thus  she  goes  on  until  the  entire  warp  in  one  place  is 
secured  between  the  strands  of  the  cord;  (5)  then  she  pulls  the  string  to  its  fullest 
extent,  and  in  doing  so  separates  the  threads  of  the  warp  from  one  another:  (6)  a 
similar  three  stranded  cord  is  applied  to  the  other  end  of  the  warp,  along  the  outside 
of  the  other  pole. 

At  this  stage  of  the  work  these  stout  cords  lie  along  the  outer  surfaces  of  the 
poles,  parallel  with  the  axes  of  the  latter,  but  when  the  warp  is  taken  off  the  poles 
and  applied  to  the  beams  by  the  spiral  thread,  as  above  described,  and  as  depicted  in 
Fig.  126,  and  all  is  ready  for  weaving,  the  cords  appear  on  the  inner  sides  of  the 
beams,  i.  e.,  one  at  the  lower  side  of  the  yarn-beam,  the  other  at  the  upper  side  of  the 
cloth-beam,  and  when  the  blanket  is  finished  they  form  the  stout  end  margins  of  the 
web.  In  the  coarser  grade  of  blankets  the  cords  are  removed  and  the  ends  of  the  warp 
tied  in  pairs  and  made  to  form  a  fringe. 

When  the  warp  is  transferred  to  the  loom  the  rod  which  was  placed  in  the 
upper  shed  remains  there,  or  another  rod,  straighter  and  smoother,  is  substituted 
for  it;  but  with  the  lower  shed,  healds  are  applied  to  anterior  threads,  and  the  rod 
is  withdrawn. 

The  mode  of  applying  the  healds  is  simple :  ( i )  the  weaver  sits  facing  the  loom 
in  the  position  for  weaving;  (2)  she  lays  at  the  right  (her  right)  side  of  the  loom  a 
ball  of  string  which  she  knows  contains  more  than  sufficient  material  to  make  the 
healds;  (3)  she  takes  the  end  of  this  string  and  passes  it  to  the  left  through  the  shed, 
leaving  the  ball  in  its  original  position;  (4)  she  ties  a  loop  at  the  end  of  the  string 
large  enough  to  admit  the  heald-rod;  (5)  she  holds  horizontally  in  her  left  hand  a 
straightish,  slender  rod,  which  is  to  become  the  heald-rod  —  its  right  extremity  touch- 
ing the  left  edge  of  the  warp  —  and  passes  the  rod  through  the  loop  until  the  point  of 
the  stick  is  even  with  the  third  (second  anterior  from  the  left)  thread  of  the  warp; 
(6)  she  puts  her  finger  through  the  space  between  the  first  and  third  threads  and 
draws  out  a  fold  of  the  heald-string ;  (7)  she  twists  this  once  around,  so  as  to  form 
a  loop,  and  pushes  the  point  of  the  heald-rod  on  to  the  right  through  this  loop;  (8) 
she  puts  her  finger  into  the  next  space  and  forms  another  loop;  (9)  and  so  on  she 
continues  to  advance  her  rod  and  form  her  loops  from  left  to  right  until  each  of  the 
anterior  (alternate)  warp-threads  of  the  lower  shed  is  included  in  a  loop  of  the  heald; 
(10)  when  the  last  loop  is  made  she  ties  the  string  firmly  to  the  rod  near  its  right  end. 

When  the  weaving  is  nearly  done  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  remove  the  healds, 
the  rod  is  drawn  out  of  the  loops,  a  slight  pull  is  made  at  the  thread,  the  loops  fall 
in  an  instant,  and  the  straightened  string  is  drawn  out  of  the  shed. 

The  weaver  is  now  ready  to  proceed  with  the  actual  weaving — the 
insertion  of  the  weft.     As  before  stated,  she  has  no  shuttle;  small  balls 


FIG.  128. 
Navaho  Weaver  at  Work. 

Showing  batten  stick  horizontally  placed  ready  to  beat  down  the  weft. 


FIG.  129. 

Batten   Stick  in  Position  to  Allow 
Weft  to  Pass  Through. 


FIG.  130. 
Novel  Arrangement  of  the  Loom. 

(From  a  painting  by   Cassidy   Davis,   owned   by 
J.    L.    Hubbell,    Ganado,   Ariz.) 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK         107 

of  colored,  and  larger  balls  of  white,  black,  or  gray  yarn  being  used  as 
shuttles,  though  occasionally  a  thread  may  be  wrapped  around  the  end  of 
a  stick  for  more  convenient  handling. 

Squatted  upon  a  sheep  skin  or  a  folded  blanket  before  the  warp,  she  decides  to 
begin  by  weaving  in  the  lower  shed.  She  draws  a  portion  of  the  healds  towards  her, 
and  with  them  the  anterior  threads  of  the  shed;  by  this  motion  she  opens  the  shed 
about  i  inch,  which  is  not  sufficient  for  the  easy  passage  of  the  woof.  She  inserts  her 
batten  edgewise  into  this  opening  and  then  turns  it  half  around  on  its  long  axis,  so 
that  its  broad  surface  lies  horizontally;  in  this  way  the  shed  is  opened  to  the  extent 
of  the  width  of  the  batten  —  about  three  inches;  next  the  weft  is  passed  through.  In 
Fig.  126  the  batten  is  shown  lying  edgewise  (its  broad  surfaces  vertical),  as  it  appears 
when  just  inserted  into  the  shed,  and  the  weft,  which  has  been  passed  through  only 
a  portion  of  the  shed,  is  seen  hanging  out  with  its  end  on  the  ground.  In  Fig.  129, 
the  batten  is  shown  in  the  second  position  described,  with  the  shed  open  to  the  fullest 
extent  necessary,  and  it  is  while  in  this  position  the  weaver  passes  the  shuttle  through. 
When  the  weft  is  in,  it  is  shoved  down  to  its  proper  position  by  means  of  the  reed- 
fork,  and  then  the  batten,  restored  to  its  first  position  (edgewise),  is  brought  down 
with  firm  blows  on  the  weft.  It  is  by  the  vigorous  use  of  the  batten  that  the  Navaho 
scrapes  are  rendered  waterproof.  In  Fig.  128,  the  weaver  is  seen  bringing  down 
this  instrument  "  in  the  manner  and  for  the  purpose  described,"  as  the  letters 
patent  say. 

When  the  lower  shed  has  received  its  thread  of  weft  the  weaver  opens  the  upper 
shed.  This  is  done  by  releasing  the  healds  and  shoving  the  shed-rod  down  until  it 
comes  in  contact  with  the  healds;  this  opens  the  upper  shed  down  to  the  web.  Then 
the  weft  is  inserted  and  the  batten  and  reed-fork  used  as  before.  Thus  she  goes  on 
with  each  shed  alternately  until  the  web  is  finished. 

It  is,  of  course,  desirable,  at  least  in  handsome  blankets  of  intricate  pattern,  to 
have  both  ends  uniform  even  if  the  figure  be  a  little  faulty  in  the  center.  To  accom- 
plish this,  some  of  the  weavers  depend  on  a  careful  estimate  of  the  length  of  each 
figure  before  they  begin,  and  weave  continuously  in  one  direction;  but  the  majority 
weave  a  little  portion  of  the  upper  end  before  they  finish  the  middle.  Sometimes  this 
is  done  by  weaving  from  above  downwards;  at  other  times  it  is  done  by  turning  the 
loom  upside  down  and  working  from  below  upwards  in  the  ordinary  manner. 

The  ends  of  the  blanket  are  bordered  with  a  stout  three-ply  string  applied  to  the 
folds  of  the  warp.  The  lateral  edges  of  the  blanket  are  similarly  protected  by  stout 
cords  applied  to  the  weft.  The  way  in  which  these  are  woven  in,  next  demands  our 
attention.  Two  stout  worsted  cords,  tied  together,  are  firmly  attached  to  each  end  of 
the  cloth-beam  just  outside  the  warp;  they  are  then  carried  upwards  and  loosely  tied 
to  the  yarn-beam  or  the  supplementary  yarn-beam.  Every  time  the  weft  is  turned  at 
the  edge  these  two  strings  are  twisted  together  and  the  weft  is  passed  through  the 
twist;  thus  one  thread  or  strand  of  this  border  is  always  on  the  outside.  As  it  is 
constantly  twisted  in  one  direction,  it  is  evident  that,  after  a  while,  a  counter  twist 
must  form  which  would  render  the  passage  of  the  weft  between  the  cords  difficult, 
if  the  cords  could  not  be  untwisted  again.  These  cords  are  tied  loosely  to  one  of  the 
upper  beams  for  this  purpose.  From  time  to  time  the  cords  are  untied  and  the 
unwoven  portion  straightened  as  the  work  progresses.  The  coarse  blankets  do  not 
have  them. 


io8  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Yet,  while  this  is  the  rule  for  all  weaving,  it  is  not  always  followed. 
There  seems  to  be  a  great  deal  of  self-will,  of  individuality,  of  refusal  to 
be  tied  down  to  rules,  among  these  Navaho  weavers,  and  it  is  no  uncom- 
mon thing  to  find  a  weaver  doing  as  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  128,  where, 
without  any  apparent  reason,  the  woof-threads  are  not  taken  across  the 
whole  width  of  the  blanket.  In  Figs.  143-4-5,  which  are  of  blankets 
that  would  be  called  of  standard  grade  (see  page  149),  the  zigzag  pattern 
of  the  design  of  both  blankets  is  clearly  worked  without  any  regard  to  the 
ordinary  demands  of  woof-weaving,  viz.,  that  the  threads  go  straight 
across  the  blanket  to  allow  of  them  being  battened  down  evenly.  Even 
in  the  illustrations,  if  a  glass  is  used,  I  have  no  doubt  the  oblique  char- 
acter of  the  threads  can  be  seen,  and  expert  weavers  on  the  white  man's 
machines,  to  whom  I  have  shown  these  specimens,  express  surprise  at  the 
perfection  of  the  work,  and  also  their  inability  to  understand  how  it  is 
done.  This  remarkable  facility  in  doing  the  unusual  thing,  in  finding  a 
way  to  do  something  that  has  never  been  done  before,  is  ever  and  anon 
cropping  up  in  Navaho  work,  and  necessarily  makes  the  study  that  much 
the  more  interesting. 

Another  interesting  variation  in  Navaho  weaving  is  shown  in  Fig. 
130,  which  is  from  an  excellent  painting  by  Cassidy  Davis,  in  the  collec- 
tion of  John  Lorenzo  Hubbell,  of  Granado,  Arizona.  For  some  reason 
the  weaver  did  not  wish  her  lo.om  to  stand  too  high.  Her  warp,  therefore, 
was  brought  over  the  upper  beam  of  her  loom-frame  and  lashed  to  an 
extra  beam,  securely  fastened  to  the  uprights  at  about  half  their  height. 
In  all  my  thirty  years  of  travel  among  Navaho  weavers  I  have  seen  this 
method  followed  not  more  than  three  or  four  times. 

Before  weaving  can  be  begun,  however,  the  yarn  must  be  prepared. 
The  processes  of  dyeing  have  already  been  explained,  but  not  those  that 
are  gone  through  from  gathering  the  wool  to  spinning  it  ready  for  the 
dye  pot. 

Shearing  is  done  in  the  spring  and  fall.  The  Navahos  are  expert  at 
the  work,  but  are  neither  as  rapid,  skilful,  nor  as  careful  as  the  Indian 
shearers  of  California.  The  fall  shearing  is  begun  as  early  as  possible  to 
avoid  the  cold  of  winter,  and  in  spring  it  is  postponed  as  long  as  is  safe,  so 
as  to  avoid  the  sudden  storms  of  that  period. 

Just  before  lambing  time  the  herds  are  removed  to  the  mountains, 
where  there  is  generally  plenty  of  good  pasturage  and  water.  Here 
corrals  for  their  protection  are  easily  constructed,  and  here  they  are  kept 
—  the  whole  Navaho  family  often  remaining  until  the  lambs  are  strong 
enough  to  travel. 

Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  sheep  were  seldom  washed  either  before 
or  after  shearing,  but  now  the  Government  has  provided  in  several  places 


FIG.  131. 
Navaho  Method  of  Using  Distaff  or  Spindle. 

(By  permission  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.) 


FIG.  132. 

Navaho  Blanket  of  the  Finest 
Quality. 


FIG.  133. 

Diagram  Showing  Arrangement  of  Threads  of 
the  Warp  in  the  Healds  and  on  the  Rod. 


FIG.  134. 
Weaving  of  Saddle  Girth. 


(All  the  illustrations  of  this  page  by  courtesy  of 
the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.) 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK  109 

on  the  reservation  places  for  dipping  and  washing.  This  keeps  the  ani- 
mals more  healthful,  and  also  materially  aids  in  cleansing  the  fleece. 
When  shearing  time  comes  the  men  do  the  larger  part  of  the  work,  though 
the  women  render  constant  and  effective  assistance,  often  catching  the 
animals,  turning  them  upon  their  backs,  and  completing  the  shearing 
themselves.  American  clippers  have  entirely  supplanted  the  rude  flint 
knives  that  alone  were  used  in  the  earlier  days. 

When  the  fleece  is  removed  and  the  wool  is  to  be  used  for  weaving, 
it  is  first  thoroughly  tossed,  shaken,  or  beaten  against  a  tree,  a  wagon 
wheel,  upon  the  rocks  or  hard  ground  to  remove  the  sand  and  as  much 
loose  and  foreign  material  as  can  be  shaken  out.  Then  it  is  thrown  over 
some  object  and  all  the  burrs  and  lumps  or  matted  wool  carefully  picked 
out 

Now  it  is  ready  to  be  washed.  Bowls  are  prepared  full  of  the  clear- 
est water  obtainable,  and  if  it  is  possible  to  be  near  a  stream  or  spring 
advantage  is  taken  of  this  close  proximity.  From  the  weaver's  household 
stores  several  pieces  of  the  root  of  the  amole  are  taken.  Yucca  glauca, 
Y.  baccata,  Y.  an  pus  ti folia,  Y.  radio  sa,  and  Y.  elata  are  all  used  for  this 
purpose,  though  the  second  named  seems  to  contain  the  largest  and  richest 
saponine.  These  roots  are  beaten  between  rocks  until  reduced  to  a  mass  of 
fibres,  and  are  then  splashed  up  and  down  in  a  bowl  of  water  until  the  latter 
becomes  covered  with  a  rich  and  soft,  foamy  lather.  In  these  suds  the 
wool  is  soaked  and  more  or  less  thoroughly  washed,  according  to  the 
habit  of  the  weaver.  If  she  be  conscientious  and  desirous  of  doing  first- 
class  work,  she  well  knows  the  washing  must  be  well  done,  or  the  dye  will 
not  "take"  satisfactorily. 

In  the  case  of  white  wool,  which  is  to  be  used,  without  dyeing,  also 
of  black,  brown,  and  native  gray,  the  careful  weaver  is  extra  particular 
to  see  that  the  wool  is  thoroughly  washed.  The  fleeces  are  then  spread 
out  on  whatever  shrubs  are  nearest  at  hand  to  dry.  This  does  not  require 
long,  as  a  rule,  in  the  hot  sunshine  of  the  Arizona  or  New  Mexico  coun- 
try, and  the  wool  is  then  ready  for  carding. 

In  the  olden  days  teasels  were  used.  These  are  still  found  growing 
wild  on  the  reservation.  Of  late  years,  however,  the  traders  have  sup- 
plied the  weavers  with  the  simple  and  somewhat  primitive  old-fashioned 
wire-toothed  cards,  such  as  our  great-grandmothers  used  to  use,  and  that 
remind  us  somewhat  of  a  horse's  curry-comb.  With  these  —  generally 
one  in  each  hand  —  the  wool  is  carded  out  until  the  staple  is  smooth  and 
uniform  and  the  wool  made  into  a  long  loose  roll. 

Both  in  their  loom  and  distaff  the  Navahos  are  rigidly  conservative. 
For  many  years  the  Mexicans  of  the  Southwest  have  been  using  the  spin- 
ning wheel,  and  later,  when  the  Mormons  settled  on  the  very  edge  of 


no  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Navaho  territory,  they  also  brought  the  wheel  and  endeavored  to  pre- 
vail upon  the  Navahos  to  adopt  it.  As  yet,  however,  all  efforts  to  lead 
them  away  from  the  primitive  distaff  have  failed.  They  will  neither  buy, 
make,  nor  receive  a  gift  of  a  spinning  wheel. 

The  distaff,  or  spindle,  held  in  the  hand  of  the  woman  illustrated  in 
Fig.  131  consists  of  a  smooth  round  stick,  about  two  feet  long,  pointed  at 
both  ends,  and  of  a  wheel  or  disk  of  flat  wood  some  four  or  five  inches 
in  diameter,  through  the  center  of  which  is  a  small  hole,  made  to  hold 
the  stick,  at  about  a  distance  of  five  or  six  inches  from  the  butt  end  of  the 
stick. 

When  everything  is  ready  for  the  spinning — carded-wool  on  a 
blanket  on  the  ground,  distaff  in  the  right  hand — the  spinner  squats 
down,  Turkish  or  tailor  fashion,  and  picks  up  a  little  of  the  wool  in  her 
left  hand,  into  which  she  sticks  the  tip  of  the  spindle.  With  a  few 
dexterous  turns  the  wool  is  soon  caught  fast,  and  now  the  distaff  is  kept 
spinning  by  a  swift  motion  of  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand,  while  with  the 
left  the  wool  is  drawn  out  to  arms'  length  to  the  required  thickness.  While 
this  operation  is  going  on  the  end  of  the  distaff  rests  upon  the  ground, 
and  the  wool  is  held  so  that  it  is  on  about  a  straight  line  with  it.  As  soon 
as  the  strand  is  as  long,  and  twisted  as  much,  as  the  woman  desires,  she 
tilts  the  distaff  so  that  it  and  the  wool-strand  are  almost  at  acute  angles, 
and,  the  spindle  still  kept  twirling,  the  wool  is  wound  up  and  down  the 
upper  portion  of  the  stick.  This  is  repeated  until  the  stick  will  hold  no 
more,  when  the  stranded-wool  is  unwound  from  the  spindle,  wrapped 
into  balls  and  laid  aside.  As  soon  as  all  the  wool  is  spun,  or  so  much  as 
the  weaver  thinks  she  may  need,  it  is  all  respun,  once  or  twice,  or  even 
more,  according  to  the  thickness  and  tightness  of  the  yarn  needed.  The 
second  twisting  is  generally  enough  for  the  making  of  the  wool  warps, 
but  the  third  twisting  gives  a  tight,  strong,  bristly  cord  about  as  thick  as 
ordinary  binding  twine.  For  the  extra  fine  blankets  the  yarn  is  both  fine 
and  extra  tightly  woven. 

Practically  all  Navaho  blankets  are  "  single-ply  " — that  is,  the  pattern 
or  design  is  the  same  on  both  sides,  no  matter  how  elaborate  or  complex 
this  may  be. 

To  produce  their  variegated  patterns  they  have  a  separate  skein,  shuttle,  or  thread 
for  each  component  of  the  pattern.  Take,  for  instance,  the  blanket  depicted  in  Fig. 
132.  Across  this  blanket,  between  the  points  a-b,  we  have  two  serrated  borders,  two 
white  spaces,  a  small  diamond  in  the  center,  and  twenty-four  serrated  stripes,  making 
in  all  twenty-nine  component  parts  of  the  pattern.  Now,  when  the  weaver  was 
working  in  this  place,  twenty-nine  different  threads  of  weft  might  have  been  seen 
hanging  from  the  face  of  the  web  at  one  time.  When  the  web  is  so  nearly  finished 
that  the  batten  can  no  longer  be  inserted  in  the  warp,  slender  rods  are  placed  in  the 
shed,  while  the  weft  is  passed  with  increased  difficulty  on  the  end  of  a  delicate  splinter 


FIG.  136. 


Fig.  135  is  an  enlarged  section  of  Fig.  134, 
showing  the  manipulation  of  the  healds  for 
weaving  in  diagonals.  Fig.  136  shows  the 
arrangement  of  the  healds  for  weaving  dia- 
monds, and  Fig.  137  shows  a  blanket,  part  of 
which  is  diagonal  and  part  diamond  weave. 


FIG.  135- 


(All    illustrations    on    this    page    by 

courtesy    of    the    Bureau    of 

American  Ethnology.) 


FIG.  137. 


FIG.  138. 
Two  Sides  of  the  Navaho  Blanket,  Each  Side  Being  Different. 

(Courtesy  of  the  American  Anthropologist.) 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK         in 

and  the  reed-fork  alone  presses  the  warp  home.  Later  it  becomes  necessary  to  remove 
even  the  rod  and  the  shed ;  then  the  alternate  threads  are  separated  by  a  slender  stick 
worked  in  tediously  between  them,  and  two  threads  of  woof  are  inserted  —  one  above 
and  the  other  below  the  stick.  The  very  last  thread  is  sometimes  put  in  with  a  darn- 
ing needle.  The  weaving  of  the  last  three  inches  requires  more  labor  than  any  foot 
of  the  previous  work.  [Matthews.] 

While  the  great  majority  of  blankets  are  woven  in  this  simple 
"  single-ply "  style,  the  Navaho  weaver,  by  deft  manipulation  and  digital 
dexterity  gained  by  years  of  practice,  is  able  to  weave  blankets,  dresses, 
shirts,  etc.,  in  six  different  styles.  Each  of  these  has  a  separate  name, 
(according  to  Father  Berard),  and  the  processes  are  as  follows: 

1.  Yistlo.  —  This  is  the  simple  straight  method  already  described,  in 
which  the  woof-strands  are  drawn  horizontally  through  the  warp  and 
rammed  tight  with  the  batten-stick.    Two  healds  are  used  in  this  mode  of 
weaving. 

2.  Yishbizh.  —  This  word  means  braided,  but  is  used  in  connection 
with  blankets  to  designate  a  peculiar  figure  or  run  of  the  web,  which  runs 
diagonally  across  the  blanket,  giving  it  the  appearance  as  if  it  were  begun 
in  one  corner  and  woven  to  the  opposite  corner.    The  position  of  the  loom 
and  of  the  weaver  is  the  same  as  in  No.  i,  but  more  healds  are  used. 

3.  limas.  —  This  is  the  diagonal  weave,   and  Dr.   Matthews  thus 
describes  the  process: 

"For  making  diagonals,  the  warp  is  divided  into  four  sheds;  the  uppermost 
one  of  these  is  provided  with  a  shed-rod,  the  others  are  supplied  with  healds.  I  will 
number  the  healds  and  sheds  from  below  upwards.  The  diagram,  Fig.  133,  shows 
how  the  threads  of  the  warp  are  arranged  in  the  healds  and  on  the  rod. 

"  When  the  weaver  wishes  the  diagonal  ridges  to  run  upwards  from  right  to  left, 
she  opens  the  sheds  in  regular  order  from  below  upwards,  thus:  First,  second,  third, 
fourth,  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  etc.  When  she  wishes  the  ridges  to  trend  in  the 
contrary  direction  she  opens  the  sheds  in  the  inverse  order.  I  found  it  convenient  to 
take  my  illustrations  of  this  mode  of  weaving  from  a  girth.  In  Figs.  134  and  135 
the  mechanism  is  plainly  shown.  The  lowest  (first)  shed  is  opened  and  the  first  set 
of  healds  drawn  forward.  The  rings  of  the  girth  take  the  place  of  the  beams  of 
the  loom. 

"  There  is  a  variety  of  diagonal  weaving  practiced  by  the  Navahos  which  produces 
diamond  figures;  for  this  the  mechanism  is  the  same  as  that  just  described,  except  that 
the  healds  are  arranged  differently  on  the  warp.  The  diagram,  Fig.  136,  will  explain 
this  arrangement. 

"  To  make  the  most  approved  series  of  diamonds  the  sheds  are  opened  twice  in 
the  direct  order  (i.  e.,  from  below  upwards)  and  twice  in  the  inverse  order,  thus: 
First,  second,  third,  fourth,  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  third,  second,  first,  fourth, 
third,  second,  first,  fourth,  and  so  on.  If  this  order  is  departed  from,  the  figures 
become  irregular.  If  the  weaver  continues  more  than  twice  consecutively  in  either 
order,  a  row  of  V-shaped  figures  is  formed,  thus:  VVVV.  Fig.  137  shows  a  portion 
of  a  blanket  which  is  part  plain  diagonal  and  part  diamond." 


ii2  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

4.  Diyugi,  or  Diyogi.  —  This  is  really  not  a  special  style  of  weave, 
since  it  is  the  same  as  No.   I,  only  that  soft,  loose  yarn  is  used,  which 
makes  the  blanket  look  thick,  soft  and  fluffy,  and  that  is  expressed  by  the 
word  diyugi,  or  diyogi. 

5.  Ditsosi. —  This  word,  meaning  fuzzy,  or  downy,  is  applied  to  a 
species  of  blankets  or  rugs  the  one  side  of  which  looks  very  much  like  a 
long-haired  sheep  pelt,  with  the  wool  in  small  tufts.     When  the  woman 
weaves  this  sort  of  blanket  she  has  a  quantity  of  long-haired  wool  near 
at  hand.    She  first  weaves  about  an  inch,  then,  taking  pinches  of  the  long- 
haired wool,  inserts  them  between  the  warp  on  the  top  of  the  woven  part, 
leaving  a  tuft  of  about  two  inches  out  in  front.     When  the  whole  row  is 
thus  tufted  she  rams  it  down  with  the  batten-stick,  weaves  another  course 
of  about  an  inch,  inserts  another  row  of  tufts,  and  thus  continues  until  the 
blanket  is  finished.    When  finished  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  shaggy  pelt. 

6.  Alneestloni.  —  This  is  a  double  or  two-ply  weave,  which  shows  a 
different  design  on  either  side.     In  weaving  in  this  style  as  many  as  eight 
healds  are  used.    By  manipulating  them  in  the  right  way,  the  desired  result 
is  obtained.    In  order  to  understand  just  how  it  is  done,  one  would  have  to 
see  a  woman  at  work,  and  pay  close  attention  to  the  manner  of  weaving, 
and  to  the  arrangement  and  use  of  the  healds. 

That  indefatigable  student  and  observer,  Dr.  Matthews,  found  a 
blanket  of  this  double  or  two-ply  weave,  and  after  gaining  all  the  infor- 
mation he  could  upon  the  subject  wrote  the  following  article  in  the  Amer- 
ican Anthropologist.  The  whole  of  it  is  so  interesting  that  it  is  quoted 
without  abridgment: 

As  the  American  Indians  are  generally  believed  to  be  neither  imitative  nor  inven- 
tive, it  is  well  to  consider  a  remarkable  instance  of  their  aptness  in  learning,  and, 
added  thereto,  an  example  of  their  inventive  advancement. 

The  whole  art  of  weaving  among  the  Navahos  is  worthy  of  close  study  for  many 
reasons,  but  not  least  for  a  psychological  reason.  We  have  fair  evidence  from  the 
early  Spanish  explorers  that  they  knew  nothing  of  loom-weaving  three  hundred  years 
ago.  The  Navaho  traditions  (and  the  evidence  of  these  is  not  without  value)  cor- 
roborate such  statements.  They  tell  us  many  times  that  the  early  Athabascan  intruders 
in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  dressed  themselves  in  rude  mats  or  garments  made  of 
juniper  bark,  which  must  have  been  woven  by  the  fingers  without  mechanical  appli- 
ances. But  we  have  also  the  evidence  of  travelers  of  a  still  earlier  date  that  the 
sedentary  Indians  who  were  neighbors  of  the  Navahos  used  the  loom  and  wove  fabrics 
of  cotton  and  other  materials.  We  have  archaeological  evidence  that  the  Pueblos  and 
cliff-dwellers  wove,  with  the  assistance  of  a  mechanism,  webs  of  cotton,  yucca-fiber, 
feathers,  and  hair,  and  that  they  knitted  with  wooden  needles  leggins  of  human  hair; 
for  this  purpose,  it  is  thought,  they  saved  their  combings. 

Three  hundred  years  ago,  then,  the  Navahos  knew  nothing  of  the  loom;  but  in 
the  meantime  they  have  become  a  race  of  expert  loom-weavers,  and  they  have  accom- 
plished this  without  coercion  or  any  such  formal  methods  of  instruction  as  we  employ; 


5*1 
*'& 

* 

o 

TJ 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK         113 

they  having  "picked  it  up."  True,  they  had  their  instructors  near  at  hand  —  the 
sedentary  Indians  with  whom  they  have  traded  and  intermarried  —  but  other  wild 
tribes  of  the  southwest  had  the  same  opportunities  to  learn  and  never  profited  by 
them.  All  had  an  equal  chance  to  steal  sheep  from  the  Mexicans;  but  all  did  not 
become  shepherds.  The  weaving  of  wool  was,  of  course,  unknown  in  America  before 
the  Spaniards  introduced  sheep  in  the  sixteenth  century;  but  the  Indians  were  not 
obliged  to  change  their  old  looms  when  the  new  staple  was  introduced. 

Within  the  time  to  which  I  allude,  not  only  have  the  Navahos  learned  from 
their  neighbors,  the  sedentary  Indians,  the  art  of  weaving,  but  they  have  come  to 
excel  their  teachers.  Although  blankets  are  still  woven  in  Zuni  today,  if  an  inhabitant 
of  that  pueblo  desires  a  specially  fine  scrape,  he  purchases  it  from  a  Navaho. 

While  living  in  New  Mexico  during  the  years  1880-84,  in  daily  contact  with 
members  of  the  Navaho  tribe,  I  made  a  careful  study  of  the  Navaho  art  of  weaving 
and  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  subject  which  appeared  in  the  Third  Annual  Report  of 
the  Bureau  of  Ethnology  (Washington,  1885).  In  that  article  I  described  all  the 
important  forms  of  Navaho  blankets  I  had  ever  seen ;  but  I  had  not  seen  a  two-faced 
blanket,  and,  up  to  the  date  of  writing,  had  not  even  heard  of  it;  there  is,  therefore, 
no  allusion  to  it  in  my  treatise.  I  was  absent  from  New  Mexico,  except  during  two 
short  visits,  for  six  years.  Sometime  after  I  returned  to  it,  in  1890,  for  another  sojourn 
of  four  years,  I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  those  two-faced  blankets.  Thus  I  may 
safely  say  that  after  I  left  New  Mexico,  in  1884,  the  process  of  making  this  blanket 
was  invented  by  a  Navaho  Indian,  and  probably,  though  not  necessarily,  by  a  Navaho 
woman. 

During  my  second  sojourn  in  New  Mexico  I  tried  to  find  a  woman  who  wove 
this  peculiar  blanket  in  order  that  I  might  induce  her  by  liberal  pecuniary  promises, 
as  I  had  done  on  previous  occasions  with  other  weavers  of  special  fabrics,  to  come  to 
my  residence  and  work  under  my  observation ;  but  I  never  succeeded.  I  was  told  that 
the  blankets  were  made  in  a  distant  part  of  the  Navaho  country ;  my  informants  knew 
not  where.  If  there  were  more  than  one  maker,  I  never  learned;  but  from  what  I 
know  of  the  Navahos  I  think  it  probable  that  the  inventor  has  made  no  secret  of  the 
process  and  that  now,  at  least,  there  are  many  weavers  of  the  two-faced  blankets. 

Someone  may  question  if  this  art  did  not  exist  during  my  first  sojourn  in  the 
Navaho  country  previous  to  1884,  and  if  I  might  not  have  failed  to  observe  it.  This 
is  by  no  means  probable.  Everyone  in  the  Navaho  country  then  believed  that  the 
distinguishing  feature  of  the  Indian  blanket  was  that,  no  matter  how  richly  figured,  its 
two  surfaces  were  always  exactly  alike  in  all  respects.  Mr.  Thomas  V.  Keam,  of 
Keam's  Canyon,  Arizona,  is  the  Indian  trader  who  has  been  longest  established  among 
the  Navahos,  and  is  their  most  popular  trader;  he  has  dealt  and  dwelt  with  them,  I 
think,  for  about  thirty  years,  and  he  is  an  educated,  intelligent,  and  observant  man. 
Had  such  blankets  been  even  occasionally  seen  among  these  Indians  prior  to  1884, 
some  of  them  would  have  been  brought  to  him  to  trade  and  he  would  not  have  failed 
to  observe  their  unusual  appearance.  In  1896  I  wrote  requesting  Mr.  Keam  to 
get  for  me  a  two-faced  blanket  from  his  part  of  the  country  and  asking  him  what  he 
knew  of  the  origin  of  the  new  blanket.  In  his  reply,  dated  January  27,  1897,  he  says: 

"  As  you  suppose,  it  is  only  about  three  years  since  I  first  saw  this  work,  and 
to  date  there  are  only  a  few  who  understand  this  weaving.  The  diamond  or  diagonal 
twill  is  undoubtedly  copied  by  them  from  the  Hopi,  but  the  double  or  reversible 
weaving  I  believe  to  be  of  their  own  [Navaho]  invention,  as  I  know  of  no  other  tribe 
that  does  such  weaving." 


Ii4  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Thus  we  see  that  it  was  not  until  about  the  year  1893  that  the  oldest  trader  in 
the  Navaho  land  saw  a  two-faced  blanket. 

As  I  have  said,  the  Navaho  loom  is  a  machine,  and  a  rather  elaborate  machine, 
too.  The  step  from  a  tool  to  a  machine  marks  a  wide  advance  in  human  evolution. 
I  have  described  accurately,  in  the  paper  already  quoted,  the  mechanism  of  the 
Navaho  loom  (as  it  existed  in  the  last  decade,  at  least)  and  have  analyzed  its  com- 
ponent elements,  which  are  essentially  those  of  our  own  household  loom.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  ordinary  Navaho  loom  is  an  aboriginal  invention  which  has  not 
been  modified  since  pre-Columbian  days.  In  the  weaving  of  belts,  hair-bands,  and 
garters,  the  Zuni  women  employ  a  harness  or  heald  which  seems  to  be  derived  from  the 
Old  World;  but  the  Navaho  heald  is  a  rude,  aboriginal  device. 

I  cannot  say  what  particular  modification  has  been  made  in  the  loom  (or 
perhaps  I  would  better  say  in  the  application  or  management  of  the  loom)  to  produce 
the  new  style  of  web,  but  it  would  greatly  interest  me  to  know.  I  trust  that  some 
of  the  many  scientific  explorers  who  have  recently  taken  to  visiting  the  Navaho  land 
may  find  time  to  determine  this  and  to  describe  it  in  technical  terms.  If  the  step  from 
a  tool  to  a  machine  is  long,  so  is  the  step  from  one  form  or  application  of  a  machine 
to  another  which  can  produce  such  unusual  results  as  we  see  in  the  specimen  here 
illustrated. 

Another  thing  worthy  of  notice  in  this  blanket  is  that  we  have  here  a  diagonal 
cloth.  There  is  considerable  difference  between  the  Navaho  loom  which  produces  this 
web  and  the  machine  which  produces  a  plain  surface.  The  difference  is  shown  in  the 
essay  to  which  I  have  referred.  As  one  might  suppose,  the  loom  that  produces  the 
twilled  or  diagonal  surface  is  the  more  elaborate,  and  its  manipulation  requires  the 
greater  skill  and  care.  This  specimen  shows  that  it  is  the  more  elaborate  loom  which 
the  inventor  has  seen  fit  to  modify  for  the  new  form. 

But  the  specimen  is  not  only  a  blanket  partly  woven  (Fig.  138)  ;  it  is  a  loom, 
and  a  nearly  complete  loom,  lacking  only  two  movable  parts  (reed-fork  and  batten) 
which  are  common  to  all  looms.  Where  is  the  secret,  then?  Why  may  not  I,  by 
merely  examining  the  loom,  tell  how  the  change  is  made?  I  answer  that  I  cannot  do 
so  without  seeing  the  mechanism  in  operation.  I  might  invent  a  plausible  explanation 
and  deliver  it  with  an  air  of  certainty  which  would  impress  you  as  the  truth  and 
yet  be  far  astray.  I  should  have  to  see  the  weaver  at  work,  and  even  then  might  find 
it  difficult  to  analyze  the  process.  This  I  know  from  experience.  There  are  writers 
who  can  reconstruct  looms  and  processes  by  merely  examining  the  webs  or  the  impres- 
sion left  by  these  webs  on  plastic  clay;  but,  unfortunately,  this  is  beyond  my  ability. 

I  know  of  no  fabric  made  by  civilized  man  that  is  quite  like  this.  I  have  asked 
experts  in  the  dry-goods  line  if  they  knew  of  any  and  have  been  told  that  they  did 
not.  The  modern  golf-cloth,  which  is  perfectly  plain  on  one  side  and  figured  on  the 
other,  is  somewhat  similar  in  character,  but  not  quite.  I  have  no  doubt  that,  were 
such  an  end  desired,  the  American  inventor  would  have  little  difficulty  in  producing  a 
loom  that  would  weave  a  two-faced  fabric;  but  so  far  he  has  not  done  so.  I  merely 
mention  these  facts  to  show  that  the  Navaho  inventor  has  received  no  suggestion  from 
either  an  European  fabric  or  a  civilized  artisan. 

There  are  baskets  made  by  certain  Indians  of  the  Pacific  Coast  in  which  the 
figures  woven  on  the  outside  are  quite  different  from  those  woven  directly  behind  them 
on  the  inside.  They  are  two-faced  fabrics,  but  the  work  is  done  altogether  by  hand 
and  so  offers  little  comparison  with  the  Navaho  blanket-work  which  is  done  by 
machinery.  I  have  never  seen  any  of  these  two-faced  baskets  among  the  Navahos, 


FIG.  141. 
Elle,  of  Ganado,  Ariz.,  One  of  the  Best  of  Living  Weavers. 


Fie.  142. 
Tuli,  the  Child  Weaver. 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK         115 

and  am  certain  they  do  not  know  how  to  make  them;  but  I  cannot  deny  that  they 
may  have  seen  them  and  have  obtained  at  least  an  art  suggestion  from  them. 

During  my  many  years  of  association  with  the  Navaho  I  have  been 
able  to  buy  a  few  of  these  double-faced  blankets,  but  have  never  seen  the 
weaver  of  them  at  work,  hence  can  add  nothing  to  Dr.  Matthews's 
description. 

While,  as  a  rule,  among  the  Navahos,  modern  blankets  are  woven 
by  women,  there  have  always  been  men  who  have  engaged  in  the  art, 
and  in  describing  some  of  the  blankets  herein  pictured  it  will  be  observed 
that  the  masculine  pronoun  has  been  used,  designating  a  man  weaver.  Dr. 
Matthews  used  to  assert  in  his  day  that  the  best  weaver  on  the  reservation 
was  a  man,  but  it  would  be  a  rash  statement  to  make  today  in  the  light  of 
the  excellent  specimens  constantly  coming  from  the  expert  fingers  of 
women.  As  some  of  the  designs  herein  show,  they  are  works  of  genius, 
which  two  or  more  generations  of  careful  fostering  have  called  into  being. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  while  the  Navahos  have  a  wonderful 
variety  of  chants  or  songs  which  they  sing  in  their  ceremonies,  the  Navaho 
women  seldom,  if  ever,  sing  at  their  work.  In  this  regard  they  are  dif- 
ferent from  their  sisters  of  the  Pueblo  race.  These  Indians  have  many 
songs  which  they  sing  while  grinding  the  flour  at  the  metate,  when  attend- 
ing their  flocks,  or  out  in  the  cornfield.  But  the  Navaho  women  do  not 
sing,  except  ceremonially,  and  there  is  little  in  the  high-pitched,  almost 
screeching,  forced,  and  strenuously  vociferous  singing  of  the  dances,  to 
lead  one  to  attempt  it  while  engaged  in  the  thoughtful,  quiet,  and  sedentary 
occupation  of  weaving. 

Yet  it  should  not  be  thought  from  this  that  the  songless  Navaho 
woman  is  sad  and  forlorn.  On  the  contrary,  I  know  of  no  race  of  women 
in  the  world  that  are  so  physically  self-reliant,  so  vigorous,  strong,  robust, 
and  able  as  they;  and  mentally  within  their  scope  they  are  equally  alert. 
And  though  they  do  not  talk  much  (especially  in  the  presence  of  white 
strangers)  they  are  by  no  means  a  subdued,  timid,  and  "put-upon"  sex. 
They  are  self-assertive  in  a  high  degree  and  are  given  a  much  higher 
place  in  the  social  economy  than  most  women.  When  they  marry  they 
retain  their  own  property,  and  all  children  born  belong  to  the  mother. 
A  woman  can  divorce  a  man  as  well  and  as  easily  as  a  man  a  woman, 
and  while  there  is  always  a  gift  of  ten  or  twelve  horses  from  the  bride- 
groom or  his  family  to  the  parents  of  the  bride,  this  is,  as  Berard  says, 
not  "  the  price  paid  for  the  girl,  but  a  gift  sanctioned  by  tradition,  as  the 
Navaho  do  not  sell  their  children." 

It  should  be  noted,  too,  that  the  women  are  often  the  owners  of  the 
flocks  of  sheep,  and  in  such  case  that  the  husband  will  not  dare  to  sell  even 
a  single  animal  without  the  consent  of  his  wife.  And  when  the  blanket  is 


n6  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

woven  it  is  the  wife,  as  a  rule,  who  sells  it  and  receives  the  money  or  goods 
that  she  barters  in  exchange  for  it. 

One  of  the  most  peculiar  taboos  known  is  that  of  a  Navaho  man 
against  sight  of  his  mother-in-law.  After  the  marriage  ceremony  he  must 
never  see  her,  officially.  It  is  regarded  as  bad  taste  for  a  man  to  show 
any  familiarity  to  the  mother  of  the  maiden  he  wishes  to  marry,  possibly 
to  prevent  any  feeling  of  jealousy  between  mother  and  daughter,  and  this 
may  be  the  explanation  of  the  taboo.  The  mother,  after  marriage, 
becomes  do-zo-ini — "she  who  may  not  be  seen."  On  several  occasions 
I  have  done  my  utmost,  played  every  kind  of  a  trick  imaginable,  and  exer- 
cised my  inventive  faculties  to  the  utmost  to  bring  mother-in-law  and  son- 
in-law  together,  but  always  in  vain. 

This  undoubtedly  is  a  good  taboo.  While  it  does  not  prevent  a 
mother  from  visiting  her  married  daughter,  the  fact  that  the  visit  is  made 
in  the  husband's  absence  conduces  to  domestic  peace,  in  that  her  sugges- 
tions for  the  conducting  of  her  daughter's  household  are  not  made  in  the 
husband's  presence  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  construed  into  criticisms 
of  him  or  his  methods. 

It  should  not  be  implied  from  the  existence  of  this  taboo  that  there 
is  any  personal  aversion  existing  on  the  part  of  the  husband  against  his 
mother-in-law.  He  may  have  been  the  best  of  friends  with  her,  and 
still  entertain  the  same  kind  of  feeling.  It  is  merely  a  fixed  Navaho 
custom  to  which  he  must  adhere  whether  he  likes  it  or  not,  as  evil  is  bound 
to  come  to  him  and  his  family  if  he  dares  to  violate  so  long  established 
a  taboo. 

General  U.  S.  Hollister  thinks  that, 

as  the  Navaho  is  polygamous,  it  is  possible  that  this  singular  custom  originated  in  a 
theory  of  protection  for  the  husband.  A  man  with  half  a  dozen  wives  would  have  as 
many  mothers-in-law,  and.  according  to  beliefs  prevalent  among  white  people,  would 
also  have  a  pretty  hard  time  if  all  of  them  exercised  influence  over  his  household. 
Therefore,  such  a  custom  may  be  a  very  grave  necessity  in  Navaho  land. 

The  Navahos  have  special  names   for  all  the  different  kinds  of 
blankets  and  Berard  thus  classifies  them: 

One  of  the  very  earliest  and  commonest  forms  was  the  nakhai  bicliidi,  which,  as 
its  name  implies,  is  the  Mexican  rug  or  pelt.  This  style  was  a  pattern  borrowed  from 
the  Mexicans.  The  center  was  woven  in  a  belt  of  blue,  flanked  by  narrow  strips  of 
black,  the  remainder  of  the  blanket  alternating  in  belts  of  white,  black,  and  blue, 
interspersed  at  optional  intervals.  The  design  was  a  very  plain  one  and  made  for 
the  Mexican  trade. 

This  type  of  blanket,  even  by  experts,  will  generally  be  called  an 
old  Lnimayo,     for  it  is  the  same  style  of  blanket  made  up  to  twenty- 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK  117 

five  years  ago  by  the  Chimayo  and  other  Mexican  weavers  of  New  and 
Old  Mexico.  I  have  several  old  specimens  of  the  Chimayo  weave  which 
were  purchased  from  their  weavers,  and  one  of  them  is  pictured  in  Fig. 
249.  I  also  possess,  however,  a  Navaho  blanket  of  almost  similar  type, 
and  though  I  have  shown  it  to  several  experts  not  one  has  recognized  it  as 
a  Navaho,  but  all  alike  have  denominated  it  Chimayo.  Personally  I  can 
see  no  difference,  and  had  I  not  purchased  this  latter  blanket  from  an  old 
Navaho,  who  herself  wove  it,  I  should  have  deemed  it  a  Chimayo.  (See 
p.  169.) 

Nago  nodozi,  horizontally  striped,  a  blanket  woven  in  alternating  stripes  of  black 
and  white,  with  an  occasional  narrow  strip  of  red  added  in  the  center,  and  the  end 
belts  of  black.  Red  tassels  decorated  each  corner. 

A  similar  blanket,  and  one  much  in  demand  by  the  Utes,  was  known  as  alni 
nai]ini,  or  the  blanket  with  the  black  (streak)  belt  in  center.  While  the  body  of  the 
blanket  was  laced  with  strips  of  white  and  black,  the  center  was  mounted  with  a  wide 
black  belt,  with  additional  red  and  blue  strips  woven  in  between.  Similar  belts  were 
woven  in  equi-distant  intervals  between  the  center  belt  and  the  ends,  though  they  were 
narrower  than  the  center  belt.  The  corners  were  decorated  with  black  tassels,  making 
a  very  attractive  blanket. 

The  hanolchade,  or  carded  blanket,  which  is  now  designated  as  the  chiefs 
blanket,  is  probably  the  chief  of  blankets,  though  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been 
worn  by  the  chiefs  exclusively.  Here,  too,  the  idea  of  alternating  stripes  of  black 
and  white  is  retained  in  the  body  of  the  blanket,  though  as  a  distinctive  feature 
three  zigzag  diamonds  made  of  small  cubes  of  blue,  red,  and  black  yarn  are  set  in 
the  center  of  a  wide  belt  of  black.  The  interior  of  each  diamond  is  a  perfect  white 
surmounted  by  a  red  cross  in  the  center.  The  top  and  bottom  of  the  blanket  is 
finished  in  similar  half  diamonds. —  [Berard.] 

When  this  type  is  found  in  the  old  bayeta  or  native-wool,  native-dyed 
blankets  they  are  regarded  as  almost  priceless  by  collectors.  Fig.  7  is 
a  good  representation  of  one  of  these  blankets  in  the  Fred  Harvey  collec- 
tion. Some  twenty-five  years  ago  I  purchased  a  modern  blanket  of  this 
type  from  one  of  John  Lorenzo  Hubbell's  weavers  at  Ganado.  It  has  been 
in  continuous  use  since  that  time,  mainly  on  the  floor  of  Dr.  W.  L.  Jud- 
son's  art  studio  at  Garvanza  (Art  Department  of  the  University  of  South- 
ern California,  Los  Angeles),  and  is  a  far  more  desirable  blanket  today 
than  when  it  was  first  purchased.  It  has  toned  down  somewhat  and  taken 
on  some  of  the  dignity  of  age,  and  while  there  can  be  no  danger  of  mis- 
taking it  for  a  bayeta  it  is  so  good  a  blanket,  so  well  dyed  and  woven, 
that  its  value  will  be  enhanced  as  the  years  go  by.  Mr.  Hubbell  still  has 
several  of  his  most  expert  and  careful  weavers  who  prefer  to  weave  noth- 
ing but  this  kind  of  blanket,  and  he  keeps  them  busy  all  the  time,  as  there 
is  always  a  larger  demand  for  this  type  (when  well  woven)  than  can  be 


n8  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

supplied.     Fred  Harvey  also  has  several  of  his  best  weavers  at  work  on 
this  especial  type. 

Bil,  woman's  dress,  was  originally  woven  in  black  and  blue.  The  black  color, 
which  is  a  fast  jet  black,  was  made  from  a  mixture  of  sumac,  pitch,  and  native  ochre, 
called  tsekho  je  ki,  while  the  blue  was  indigo,  bediltlish,  obtained  from  the  Mexicans. 
The  top  and  bottom  of  the  blanket  alternated  in  four  lines  of  blue  and  three  of 
black,  with  the  body  of  the  blanket,  or  its  center,  aini,  a  plain  jet  black.  The  whole 
was  bordered,  banati,  and  tasseled,  bijanil,  in  blue. 

With  the  introduction  of  bayeta,  red  was  substituted  for  the  blue  in  the  body 
of  the  blanket,  though  the  blue  border  and  tassels  were  retained  (dotlish  bequaolo, 
the  weave  runs  out  in  blue).  The  solid  black  center,  too,  was  retained,  and  gradually 
various  designs  of  red  and  blue  were  woven  with  the  black,  lizhin  bildestlo,  at  each 
side  of  the  center  belt.  —  [Berard.] 

Specimens  of  this  earlier  type  of  woman's  dress  are  very  scarce.  Only 
a  few  are  to  be  found  in  the  museums.  The  only  one  I  was  ever  able  to 
secure  from  the  Navahos  was  one  that  was  made  and  worn  for  years  by 
the  wife  of  the  great  warrior  chief  Manuelito  (see  Fig.  139).  As  it  was 
the  last  of  its  kind,  and  was  very  worn  and  much  repaired,  she  had  care- 
fully washed  it  and  put  it  away  amongst  her  treasures,  from  whence  she 
drew  it  forth  to  show  to  me.  When  I  expressed  my  desire  to  purchase 
it  she  refused  to  let  me  have  it,  on  account  of  its  dilapidated  condition. 
But  as  later  we  became  good  friends  she  finally  insisted  upon  my  taking  it 
as  a  gift. 

During  an  Indian  fiesta  held  in  Los  Angeles  I  loaned  this  rare  dress, 
with  a  score  or  more  of  other  of  my  blanket  treasures,  and  when  I  came 
to  make  up  an  accounting  of  the  "  returns  "  this  was  missing,  and  I  have 
never  since  been  able  to  trace  it,  to  my  extreme  regret. 

Of  the  later  type,  showing  the  bayeta,  I  have  a  number  of  fine  speci- 
mens. The  older  types  are  almost  worth  their  weight  in  gold.  Fig.  10 
shows  one  of  the  earlier  ones  in  the  Hubbell  collection.  They  are  now 
neither  woven  nor  worn  and  one  may  wander  over  the  reservation  for  a 
year  and  not  find  one  in  any  condition.  Hence  those  that  are  now  in 
collections  are  highly  treasured. 

Ba  dotlizhi,  or  bil  baba  dotlizhi,  blue  borders.  This  was  a  woman's  shawl,  and 
owes  its  name  to  the  two  borders  of  blue  which  flanked  the  center  of  black.  While 
the  bil,  or  woman's  dress,  was  of  two  pieces,  which  were  sewed  at  the  top  and  sides, 
leaving  an  opening  for  the  head  and  arms  only,  the  shawls  were  made  in  a  single 
pattern  and  used  after  the  manner  of  a  shawl  or  wrap,  much  as  the  men  use  the 
blanket. 

Bil  lagai,  white  shawl,  was  so  called  from  the  alternating  white  and  red  color 
which  was  woven  horizontally  in  narrow  strips  throughout.  The  border  and  tas- 
sels were  blue.  It  was  the  only  woman's  garment  in  which  white  was  used,  and 
therefore  was  appropriately  designated.  The  woman's  dress  and  the  shawls  are  not 
used  today. —  [Berard.] 


FIG.  146. 
Navaho  Blanket  of  Symbolic  Design. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


[PAGE   124] 


A  NAVAHO  WEAVER  AT  WORK  119 

These  were  undoubtedly  suggested  by  the  white  cotton  shawls  or 
garments  of  the  Hopi  women,  as  pictured  elsewhere.  There  are  none  of 
these  made  by  the  Navahos  today,  though  the  Hopis  still  make  them  of 
cotton,  finely  embroidering  them. 

Baghaitloni,  slit-weave.  No  special  design  seems  to  have  been  assigned  to  this 
blanket,  but  any  blanket  might  be  woven  so  as  to  leave  a  slit  about  four  fingers  wide 
in  the  center  of  the  blanket,  which  was  afterwards  laced  with  blue  yarn.  It  is  gen- 
erally stated  that  this  weave  had  to  be  occasionally  resorted  to  in  order  to  avoid  over- 
doing weaving.  Yet  it  has  also  been  advanced  that  this  blanket  was  worn  by  the 
men  just  as  the  women  used  the  bil,  or  woman's  dress,  and  that  to  avoid  ridicule, 
the  above  version  of  overdoing  the  weaving  has  been  attached  to  the  "  slit-weave." 
But  this  seems  rather  far-fetched. —  [Berard.] 

Another  shirt  which,  like  the  preceding,  was  originally  borrowed 
from  the  Pueblo,  was  still  in  vogue  not  so  very  many  years  ago.  It  was 
woven  of  wool  yarn  in  the  shape  of  a  woman's  dress,  but  provided  with  a 
longitudinal  slit  in  the  center  for  the  purpose  of  passing  it  over  the  head. 
Fig.  140.  It  was  entirely  black  in  color  and  the  only  decoration  was  a 
tassel  in  each  corner.  When  tqo  filthy  it  would  be  washed  and  redyed, 
and  from  its  varied  use  in  wearing  it  either  side  out,  or  turning  the  front 
to  rear  at  will,  it  was  called  ae  nahotali,  or  bil  lizhin  ae  nahotali,  uthe 
black  dress  shirt  which  may  be  worn  either  side  up."  As  the  surface  of 
the  shirt  was  very  rough,  ditsid,  which  it  was  impossible  to  obviate  even 
by  a  loose  weave,  ilzholigo  istlo,  a  fur  collar  made  o,f  wildcat  skin,  noshdni 
bakhagi,  was  added  and  tied  with  buckskin  thongs.  The  front  sides  of 
the  shirt  were  folded  inwardly  and  overlapped  by  the  rear,  in  which 
fashion  it  was  held  close  to  the  body  by  means  of  a  cord  tied  around  the 
waist  Despite  this  precaution  the  wind  had  free  access  to  it,  wherefore 
the  more  humorous  dubbed  it  ae  akidanalki,  or  "the  shirt  which  flaps  in 
the  wind."  It  was  worn  in  addition  to  and  over  the  ordinary  wool  or 
calico  shirt,  and  some  did  not  despise  to  store  it  away,  indasistsos,  for 
festive  occasions.  At  present  it  has  disappeared  entirely. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Designs  on  Modern  Navaho  Blankets 

IN  CHAPTER  XII  the  studious  reader  will  find  sufficient  material  for 
thought  as  to  the  origin  and  symbolism  of  designs  in  those  days  of  the 
art  when  creative  impulses  were  strong,  men  and  women  were  contented 
with  simple,  natural,  and  beautiful  things,  and  the  feverish  desire  for  the 
mere  accumulation  of  wealth  had  not  demoralized  the  simpler  primitive 
instincts. 

But  in  speaking  of  the  designs  woven  into  the  modern  products  of 
the  Navahos'  loom  we  are  upon  different  ground.  In  the  main  we  can 
agree  with  Father  Berard  when  he  says: 

As  for  designs  in  modern  blankets  which  by  some  are  interpreted  as  replete  with 
religious  symbolism,  such  interpretations  merely  attach  an  undue  idealism  and  impor- 
tance to  the  design  which  it  does  not  contain.  A  glance  at  the  names  for  some  of 
the  designs  will  bear  out  this  point  and  show  that  these  names  designate  figures 
found  on  paper,  cloth  or  anything  else.  Then,  too,  it  will  be  remembered  that  Navaho 
women  are  devout  and  faithful  clients  of  their  religion,  possibly  more  so  than  the  men, 
and  would  scarcely  trifle  with  religious  symbols,  many  of  which  may  be  viewed  in 
effigy  in  the  course  of  certain  rites,  and  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  only.  This 
conservatism  is  presumably  responsible  for  the  taboo  placed  upon  the  following  and 
similar  designs:  thunder,  zigzag  lightning,  the  water,  ox,  the  water  horse,  a  horned 
monster,  a  monster  eagle,  a  monster  fish,  a  tortoise,  the  turtle,  the  coyote,  the  dog, 
the  frog,  the  horned  toad,  the  bull  or  blow  snake,  the  track  snake  and  snakes  in 
general,  in  a  word,  anything  harmful. 

On  the  other  hand,  designs  of  the  rainbow,  big  stars,  sheet  lightning,  the  arrow, 
evening  twilight,  celestial  blue,  darkness,  or  of  the  sacred  mountains,  or  anything  of 
p.  beneficial  character,  may  be  designed  with  impunity. 

It  cannot  be  too  often  affirmed  or  too  clearly  understood  that,  while 
the  exigencies  of  modern  commercialism  have  led  to  the  making  of  blankets 
of  special  designs  to  order,  the  natural  impulse  of  the  Navaho  weaver  is 
never  to  copy  and  never  to  repeat  herself  in  her  designs.  The  result  is  a 
wealth  of  designs,  a  bewilderment  of  figures,  and  combinations  of  figures 
that,  could  they  be  all  massed  together  in  one  great  exhibit,  would  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Hence,  had  I  photographed 
a  thousand  blankets  for  reproduction  in  the  pages  of  this  book,  they  would 
have  served  but  as  suggestions  to  many  other  thousands  that  might,  with 
equal  reason  and  acceptability,  have  been  chosen  for  that  purpose. 

120 


DESIGNS  ON  MODERN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS         121 

Unless  she  intends  to  weave  a  design  from  one  of  the  traders'  dia- 
grams, the  Navaho  woman  begins  her  work  without  any  outward  repre- 
sentation, either  upon  paper,  buckskin,  or  in  the  sand,  of  what  she  intends 
to  produce.  The  plan  may  be  carefully  mapped  out  in  her  own  busy 
brain  —  main  figures,  their  sizes,  with  all  the  connecting  details.  But,  as 
I  shall  show  later,  this  is  not  always  the  case. 

It  will  be  noted  by  the  careful  observer  that  there  are  no  circles, 
arches,  or  round  corners  in  Navaho  weaving.  The  reason  for  this  may 
be  traced  to  the  development  of  the  art  from  basketry,  where  the  splints 
are  less  flexible  and  pliable  and  all  the  corners  must  be  sharp-pointed, 
and  the  lines  straight,  oblique,  zigzag,  serrated,  etc. 

There  are  practically  no  set  or  tribal  designs  —  that  is,  blankets 
that  are  all  woven  alike.  The  figures,  mainly  geometrical,  are  common 
to  all,  but  the  method  of  their  introduction  into  individual  blankets  is  the 
concern  of  the  weaver  alone,  unless  she  be  weaving  a  chosen  design  at  the 
request  of  the  trader. 

There  are  many  weavers,  however,  that  no  amount  of  pressure  or 
persuasion  can  induce  to  weave  any  other  than  a  blanket  of  her  own 
designing,  and  some  of  these  will  never  duplicate  a  design.  Mr.  Hubbell 
has  several  such  weavers,  and  so  has  Fred  Harvey.  These  are  women  of 
remarkable  ability;  the  geniuses  of  their  tribe,  who  rank  as  artists  of  the 
first  class.  Such  an  one  is  Elle,  of  Ganado,  who  has  been  steadily  engaged 
at  weaving  by  Fred  Harvey  for  over  a  dozen  years.  Scores  of  thousands 
have  seen  her,  seated  at  the  loom,  in  the  Fred  Harvey  Indian  rooms  at 
Albuquerque,  New  Mexico,  at  various  fairs,  and  in  the  Land  Shows  and 
other  exhibits  at  Chicago,  etc.  (See  Fig.  141.)  Her  little  daughter,  when 
but  five  years  old,  began  to  weave,  and  now,  though  still  a  mere  child, 
executes  the  most  striking  designs  of  her  own  creation.  Here  is  one  of  the 
wonderful  evidences  of  inheritance  of  creative  ability  and  artistic  skill. 
Before  she  could  possibly  know  anything  of  her  remarkable  power,  she  was 
an  artist  in  her  own  right.  Another  child,  Tuli,  and  her  partially  woven 
blanket  are  represented  in  Fig.  142.  This  is  another  child  wonder  in  the 
weaving  world,  found  by  Fred  Harvey,  and  now  regularly  engaged  at  his 
blanket  rooms  at  Albuquerque,  New  Mexico. 

Of  this  same  type  of  weaver  is  Bileen  Alpi  Bizhaahd,  discovered 
by  Mr.  J.  B.  Moore,  of  Crystal,  New  Mexico,  and  now  in  the  regular 
employ  of  his  successors,  the  J.  A.  Molohon  Company.  She  has  never 
been  known  to  copy  the  design  of  another  weaver,  and  though  often 
delighted  beyond  measure  at  the  charm  and  beauty  of  some  design  she  has 
just  made,  she  positively  refuses  to  weave  a  second  blanket  from  the  same 
pattern.  Hence,  if  it  is  to  be  duplicated,  some  other  weaver  must  be  found 
who  is  more  complaisant.  Such  idiosyncrasies  as  this  reveal  that  the 


122 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


"artistic  temperament"  is  to  be  found  among  the  aborigines  as  well  as  in 
the  most  "advanced"  civilization. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature  displayed  in  the  diversity  of 
designs  found  in  Navaho  blankets,  and  also  in  their  similarities.  Human 
nature,  as  is  tritely  said,  is  very  much  the  same  whether  found  in  civilized, 
uncivilized,  black,  white,  bond,  free,  or  in  dogs.  In  the  conventional, 
ordinary,  commonplace  designs  one  finds  the  timid,  the  conservative,  the 
satisfied,  the  mentally  contented,  the  orthodox.  Why  change  these  pat- 
terns? They  have  been  good  enough  in  the  past;  why  try  to  alter  or 
improve  them? 

But  there  are  those  who  are  not  satisfied.  Their  minds  are  mentally 
alert  for  the  new,  the  original.  They  seek  new  paths.  They  disregard 
the  conventional  bounds.  Life  is  life,  and  life  is  to  be  known  only  in  the 
living,  and  every  avenue  that  opens  is  a  new  avenue  of  experience,  knowl- 
edge, and  possible  improvement.  So  the  iconoclastic  designer  makes 
"something  different."  She  prefers  living  figures  to  geometric  designs; 
she  even  dares  to  reproduce  the  Yet  of  the  sacred  sand-paintings,  as  I 
shall  show  in  a  chapter  devoted  to  that  feature  of  the  art;  and  of  late 
years  there  have  developed  the  unbelieving,  the  irreligious,  the  scoffer,  the 
atheist,  who  have  dared  to  violate  the  taboos  and  picture  everything  their 
vagrant  fancy  dictates. 

Occasionally  a  weaver  thinks  out  a  design  and  proceeds  to  incor- 
porate it  into  a  woven  blanket.  When  completed  it  is  so  different  from 
what  she  expected,  or  conveys  to  her  mind  some  strange  or  peculiar  im- 
pression, or  arouses  some  superstitious  fear,  that  she  either  destroys  it  or 
gets  rid  of  it  as  speedily  as  possible.  Of  this  character  is  the  zigzag- 
design  blanket  shown  in  Fig.  143.  This  was  given,  many  years  ago,  to 
Mr.  Hamilton  Noel,  whose  trading  post  is  at  Tees-nas-paz,  or,  as  it  is 
sometimes  spelt,  Teas-nos-pos,  Arizona,  which  is  Navaho  for  "the  circle 
of  cottonwoods."  This  blanket  was  woven  by  a  man,  and  while  it  was 
still  on  the  loom,  after  he  had  completed  it,  there  came  a  day  when  the 
heavens  were  clouded  and  a  severe  lightning  and  thunder-storm  arose. 
Suddenly  the  sun  shone  through  the  clouds  and  lit  up  the  blanket  in  such 
a  fashion  that  the  zigzag  design  of  the  lightning  seemed  actually  to  live. 
This  so  scared  the  superstitious  weaver  that  he  brought  it  to  Mr.  Noel, 
with  the  request  that  he  take  and  hide  it,  or  much  evil  might  come  to  them 
both.  The  trader  gladly  accepted  the  responsibility  and  always  managed 
to  secrete  the  dangerous  blanket  when  its  weaver  came  around,  but  when 
I  desired  to  purchase  it  I  found  that  no  offer  I  was  able  to  make  could 
shake,  in  the  slightest,  Mr.  Noel's  determination  not  to  part  with  it.  The 
remarkable  thing  is  that,  even  to  the  non-superstitious,  there  is  a  peculiar 
flash  of  the  pattern,  when  it  is  seen  under  certain  conditions  of  light  and 


DESIGNS  ON  MODERN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS         123 

shade  that  give  one  an  uncomfortable  sensation.  The  reproduction  fails 
to  give  any  suggestion  of  this,  as  the  color  is  lacking.  The  colors  are  red, 
green,  and  white.  Apparently  there  are  two  zigzags  of  white  running 
through  the  center,  from  top  to  bottom,  but  in  reality  there  is  a  break  in 
the  white,  and  green  is  substituted.  But  at  these  substituted  points  the 
white  is  introduced  on  the  sides,  and  thus,  mayhap,  the  peculiar  effect  may 
be  accounted  for,  in  that  the  white,  representing  the  more  brilliant  light- 
ning, darts  to  right  and  left  here,  and  is  then  caught  lower  down  and 
brought  back  into  line  with  the  point  from  which  it  started.  Anyhow,  the 
effect  is  peculiar  and  most  startling. 

This  zigzag  design  is  by  no  means  uncommon.  Indeed,  it  is  the 
motif  of  many  thousands  of  blankets,  some  simple  as  in  Figs.  144  and 
145,  and  in  others,  like  Fig.  195,  in  which  the  zigzags  are  converted  into 
diamonds. 

Figs.  144  and  145  are  the  blankets  referred  to  on  page  108  as 
demonstrating  the  individuality  of  the  weaver's  method,  in  that  the  weft 
threads  are  not  taken  directly  across  the  face  of  the  warp,  but  obliquely 
to  conform  to  the  slope  of  the  design.  In  Fig.  144  this  is  done  in  a 
fairly  successful  fashion,  interfering  only  a  little  with  the  general  "  square- 
ness" of  the  blanket,  but  in  Fig.  145  the  difficulty  of  mastering  this 
"oblique  stitch"  is  apparent,  for  it  clearly  got  beyond  the  control  of  the 
weaver,  so  that  the  blanket  is  much  wider  at  one  end  than  the  other. 

One  of  the  most  imaginative  weavers  of  the  tribe  lives  near  Canyon 
Gallegos,  New  Mexico.  She  is  especially  inventive  in  her  designs.  Were 
this  woman  of  a  civilized  race  she  would  become  another  Rosa  Bonheur, 
for  her  love  of  animals  is  such  that  she  constantly  depicts  them  in  her 
blankets,  and  always  with  considerable  artistic  skill.  Her  work  is  eagerly 
sought  for,  and  no  sooner  is  one  of  her  blankets  on  the  loom  than, 
regardless  of  what  the  pattern  is  to  be,  there  are  several  purchasers  ready 
to  buy  it  when  completed. 

With  some  weavers,  even  as  with  some  authors  of  "best-sellers," 
this  promptness  of  sale,  or  eagerness  of  purchasers,  leads  to  a  deteriora- 
tion of  the  work,  but  with  this  weaver  it  seems  to  have  had  the  opposite 
and  beneficially  stimulating  effect.  The  more  her  blankets  are  desired 
the  more  desirable  she  determines  to  make  them.  In  other  words,  she  is 
a  true  artist  and  finds  great  delight  in  her  weaving.  The  result  is  her 
latest  blankets  are  her  best.  She  never  begins  to  weave  until  a  design 
has  taken  full  possession  of  her  and  demands  outward  expression,  and 
then  she  sets  up  her  loom  and  goes  to  work  with  an  almost  feverish  eager- 
ness, as  anxious  to  see  in  objective  form  what  her  brain  has  conceived  as 
is  a  mother  to  see  her  new-born  child. 

One  of  her  blankets  is  that  pictured  in  Fig.  200  and  described  in 


i24  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Chapter  xvn,  but,  unfortunately,  I  am  unable  to  show  any  of  her  "  animal 
designs,"  for  the  blankets  were  sold  to  strangers,  and  no  photographs  were 
made  of  them. 

That  weavers  are  influenced  in  their  choice  of  design  by  their  environ- 
ment I  have  illustrated  a  score  or  more  of  times,  but  never  more  force- 
fully than  by  the  weaver  from  whom  I  purchased  the  fantastic  blanket 
pictured  in  colors  in  Fig.  146. 

This  weaver's  summer  hogan  was  not  far  from  a  siding  on  the  main 
line  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railway,  some  fifty  miles  west  of  Gallup,  New  Mex- 
ico, over  the  state  line  in  Arizona.  She  was  a  skilful  weaver,  and  I  had 
bought  several  of  her  blankets  at  different  times,  all  of  them  containing 
the  usual  type  of  design.  On  this  occasion,  however,  she  brought  forth 
something  of  a  different  character.  I  was  interested  enough  to  seek  to 
penetrate  fully  into  the  mystery  of  the  change,  and  as  I  stayed  at  the  hogan 
for  several  days,  and  she  and  her  husband  were  most  friendly  and  chatty, 
I  succeeded  in  gathering  the  following,  which,  pieced  together,  is  the  story 
of  how  she  came  to  depart  so  far  from  the  usual. 

One  day  after  she  had  set  up  her  loom,  and  while  she  was  thinking 
over  several  designs  that  had  suggested  themselves,  she  was  aroused  from 
her  thought  by  the  arrival  of  a  train  going  west.  That  immediately  sug- 
gested to  her  that  she  attempt  to  reproduce  the  engine  and  train  of  cars 
in  her  blanket.  The  sun  was  glistening  on  the  rails,  and  this  effect  she 
reproduced  by  alternations  of  white  and  blue.  The  wheels  are  diamond- 
shaped  lozenges,  while  the  cow-catcher,  headlight  and  tender,  the  cab 
with  its  two  windows,  the  smokestack  belching  smoke,  and  the  steam-chest 
with  its  escaping  white  steam  are  all  well  represented.  The  train  was  of 
passenger  coaches,  and  there  was  room  on  her  loom  for  only  two  cars, 
and  these  of  rather  compressed  dimensions.  To  denote  that  they  were 
passenger  cars  she  introduced  two  human  figures  in  each.  While  this 
work  was  progressing  certain  birds  appeared  on  the  scene,  together  with 
two  women,  one  walking  east  and  one  west.  A  "light"  engine  also  came 
traveling  east,  and  as  the  sun  happened  to  be  shining  upon  it  as  it  passed 
it  had  a  bright,  glistening  appearance,  so  she  represented  it  by  weaving  it 
in  white,  while  the  windows  of  the  cab  are  picked  out  in  dark  blue.  A 
large  and  small  rain-cloud  also  appeared  on  the  horizon  and  these  are. 
duly  represented. 

Having  thus  begun  with  the  railway,  she  determined  to  continue,  and 
when  she  was  ready  for  the  next  portion  of  the  design  a  cattle-train  came 
along,  which  she  duly  incorporated  in  the  next  horizontal  panel.  Her 
cattle  are  of  a  species  known  only  to  the  "  rarebit  fiend."  They  are  of  a 
wilder  type  than  even  Gelett  Burgess's  "purple  cow."  After  getting 
ready  for  the  next  panel  and  no  train  appearing,  she  pictured  six  flying 


DESIGNS  ON  MODERN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS         125 

birds  alighting  on  the  track  and  five  walking  female  figures.  A  rain- 
cloud  is  at  each  end  of  the  group  of  walkers.  This  panel  is  followed 
by  one  showing  two  engines  together,  going  west,  with  flying  birds  and 
rain-clouds  above  them. 

The  next  panel  shows  a  sleeping-car,  and  the  weaver's  curiosity 
having  been  aroused  since  her  endeavor  to  picture  these  strange  objects 
of  the  white  man's  travel,  she  had  mustered  up  courage  enough  to  go  to 
Gallup  and  ask  to  be  allowed  to  enter  a  sleeping-car  after  the  berths  were 
made  up  in  order  that  she  might  understand  how  men  and  women  could 
sleep  on  a  railroad  train.  After  this  personal  observation  she  was  able  to 
produce  the  double-deck  effect  of  the  upper  and  lower  berths,  though  she 
laughed  heartily  when  I  pointed  out  that  people  lie  down  when  they  sleep, 
even  though  it  be  in  a  railroad  berth.  This  she  had  not  got  clearly  through 
her  mind,  for  to  sleep  in  such  a  confined  space  as  that  tiny  berth  seemed 
to  her  almost  impossible,  hence  she  had  represented,  to  the  best  of  her 
ability,  these  strange  white  people  sitting  up  in  the  tiny  cubby-holes  where 
a  malign  fate  compelled  them  to  remain  over  night  while  they  were  hurled 
across  the  great,  free,  open  land.  Pointing  to  the  two  cars  above  I 
asked  why  she  had  placed  these  above  the  sleeping-car.  Her  reply  was  to 
the  effect  that  it  was  not  enough  to  have  only  one  car,  but  that  when  she 
began  to  put  on  the  other  cars  it  was  day-time  and  the  people  were  not 
sleeping,  hence  she  had  to  represent  them  as  up  and  moving  about. 

The  result  of  her  personal  observation  is  also  manifested  in  the 
representation  of  the  side  doors  and  ventilators  in  the  car — things  she 
had  not  known  before,  having  observed  the  cars  only  from  a  distance. 
The  remainder  of  this  panel  is  made  up  of  fleecy  clouds,  flying  birds,  and 
rain  clouds,  while  the  last  panel  is  her  very  effective  representation  of  a 
poultry  train  going  west. 

In  his  office  at  Ganado,  Arizona,  John  Lorenzo  Hubbell  has  scores 
of  blanket  designs,  painted  in  oil,  hung  upon  the  walls,  and  they  pre- 
sent a  most  surprising  and  wonderful  combination.  These  are  designs 
that  have  been  found  to  be  pleasing  to  purchasers,  and  when  a  special 
order  for  a  blanket  of  a  certain  design  comes  in,  the  weaver  is  shown 
the  picture  of  the  one  desired.  She  studies  it  a  while,  takes  the  wool 
provided,  or  herself  prepares  it,  and  then,  with  such  slight  variations  as 
she  is  sure  to  introduce,  goes  ahead  and  makes  her  blanket. 

In  blanketry,  as  well  as  in  basketry,  there  are  fantastic  and  degraded 
designs,  which  clearly  denote  mental  vacuity  on  the  part  of  the  weaver, 
or  a  vain  and  foolish  desire  to  copy  something,  or  to  do  what  the  trader 
desires,  regardless  of  its  appearance.  Foolish  lettering,  imitations  of  the 
American  eagle,  and  subjects  entirely  foreign  to  the  native  weaver's  nat- 
ural tastes  are  found.  The  intelligent  purchaser  and  the  collector  will 


126  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

alike  frown  upon  these  specimens  of  degradation  of  the  art,  and  do  all 
that  can  be  done  to  discourage  their  perpetuation. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  the  principal  designs,  with  the  Navaho 
names,  given  by  Berard: 


Fig.  147 — Dak  ha  nahalin  (card-like),  a  square. 


Fig.  148  —  Beeditli    nahalin     (slingshot-like),    a    diamond,    also    called 
so  tsOj  big  star. 


Fig.  149  —  Beeditlihi  (slingshot),  an  elongated  diamond. 


Fig.  150 — Tsin  alnaozid  (sticks  crossing  each  other),  Roman  cross. 


Fig.  151 — So  (star),  St.  Andrew's  cross. 


Fig.  152  —  Tqago  deza  (three  points),  a  triangle. 


Fig-  153  —  So  deshzha  (pointed  star),  four  lines  crossed  so  as  to  form  a 
figure  with  eight  points,  or  a  St.  Andrew's  cross  drawn 
through  a  Roman  cross.  If  made  somewhat  larger  than 
ordinarily,  it  is  also,  called  so  tso  deshzha,  big  pointy  star. 


Fig.  154 — Tsiyel  nahalin   (like  a  queue),  two  triangles  touching  each 
other  with  their  apices. 


Fig.  155  —  Tqago  deza  be  digo  desa   (four  points  with  three  points), 
four  triangles  touching  with  apices,  a  Maltese  cross. 


x 


I 


DESIGNS  ON  MODERN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS         127 

Fig.  156  —  Nahokhos,  said  of  large,  long  objects  in  horizontal  rotation, 

o    cixroc^ir'Q    r*t*r\cc  ^^^^*'^™— "^^ 


a  swastica  cross. 


Fig.  157  —  Dakha   nahalingo    nahokhos    binisaa    (a   nahokhos   within   a 
card-like  figure),  a  swastica  surrounded  by  a  square. 


Fig.  158  —  Dakha   nahalinigi   bealqiaza    (card-like   figures   within   each 
other),  square  inside  of  another  square. 


Fig.  159  —  Beeditli   nahalinigi   bealqiaza    (slingshot-like   figures   within 
each  other),  diamond  within  diamond. 


Fig.  1 60  —  Noltlizh,  a  zigzag  line. 


Fig.  161  — Be'ndastlago  noltlizh  (cornered  zigzag), 
irregular  zigzag. 

Fig.  162  —  Danaazkhago  noltlizh  (a  row  of  empty 
places  in  zigzag  order),  a  line  resem- 
bling the  crown  of  a  battlement. 

Fig.  163  —  Yistlin  (freckled),  small  dots. 


Fig.  164  —  Dokhish   (spotted),  dots  larger  than«« 
the  yistlin.  « 

Fig.  165  —  Dadestso,  spots  somewhat  longer  than 
dokhish. 


Fig.  1  66  —  Beeditli  baba  dolaghas   (slingshot  with  serrated  edge),  dia 
mond  with  serrated  edge. 


Fig.  167  —  Dolaghas,  a  serrated  line;  besdolaghas 
(ancient  knife  of  chipped  flint). 


Fig.  1 68  —  Kos  yishchin  (cloud  image),  a  terraced 
figure  on  side  of  blanket. 


128  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


o 


Fig.  169  —  Hokha  (a  large  empty  place  or  receptacle),  a 
large  terrace-edged  diamond,  usually  in 
the  center  of  a  blanket. 


Fig.  170  —  Hokha    bealkheaznil,    two    hokha    following 
each  other. 


*T*  *J*  Fig.  171 — Honakha,   a    hokha   with    a   half    hokha   on 

•Ju_     fj*m  either  end. 


Fig.  172  —  Noltlizh  alniaznil,  a  figure  with  zigzag  edge 
in  the  center. 


:  :  3  3  :  n  3 


Fig.  173 — Dolaghas  bealkheaznil,  two  figures  with  ser- 
rated edges  following  each  other. 


Fig.  174  —  Alkhe  ndazha  (pointed  ones  following  each 
other),  a  row  of  small  figures  with  points, 
^or  mstance  V-shaped  figures  not  too  near 

-*" 


Fig.i75—4nikhe    (tracks),    a    double    row    of    alkhe 
ndazha. 


Fig.  176  —  Aqidelnago  ndazha  (sticking  in  opposite  di- 
rection), same  as  anikhe  only  that  the 
figures  of  one  row  are  reversed. 


Fig.  177 — Alkidot'ezh  (touching  each  other),  a  row  of 
small  figures,  one  touching  the  other,  for 
instance  a  row  of  small  flat-based  triangles, 
set  on  edge,  so  that  the  apex  of  the  one 
touches  the  preceding  one  at  the  center 
of  the  base. 


DESIGNS  ON  MODERN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS         129 


Fig.  178  —  Alkheyit'  ezh  (  following  and  touch- 
ing each  other),  a  row  of  small 
figures  connected  by  short  lines. 

Fig.  179  —  Alkheyit'  ezh  dakha  nahalingo,  a 
row  of  small  squares  connected 
by  lines  between  them. 

Fig.  1  80  —  Delzha,  battlement-like  eleva- 
tions, especially  along  the 
border. 

Fig.  181  —  If  another  color  is  woven  next  to 
delzha,  and  the  intervening 
spaces  are  left  a  distinct  color, 
they  are  called  inilt  enclosed, 
encased. 


Fig.  182  —  Alqihadof  'ezh  (touching,  following 
within  each  other),  said  of  a 
succession     of     small     figures,—  .^    __     __ 
usually    along    the    border,    of  if*    If*    1  f* 

such  a  form  that  the  space  be-  "  * 

tween  them  is  a  reverted  repro- 
duction of  same. 


Fig.  183  —  So  aqadenil  (two  stars  together),  two  large 
diamonds  in  center  of  blanket. 


Fig.  184  —  Hoshdudi,  the  name  of  the  whip-poor-will, 
strewn  with  spots. 


Fig.  185 — Alni  azi  (standing  in  the  middle),  said  of 
any  central  figure  of  extraordinary  shape. 


Fig.  186  —  Aqidinlnago  da- 
naazkha  (spaces 
opposite),  a  suc- 


cession of  small  figures  whose  intervening 
spaces  show  the  same  figure  inverted  or 
opposite. 


Fig.  187  —  Aqedzeba  means  a  gray  stripe  or  border  all 
around.  This  is  used  with  other  colors: 
dzegai,  white;  jicht,  red;  dzetso,  yellow; 
jijin,  black ;  }idaetlizh,  blue. 


CHAPTER  XV 

Navaho  and  Pueblo  Belts,  Garters,  and  Hair  Bands 

ALL  visitors  to  the  Navaho  reservation  and  to  the  homes  of  the  various 
Pueblo  Indians  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  especially  in  early  days 
(twenty  or  more  years  ago),  were  astonished  and  delighted  at  the  beauti- 
fully designed  and  woven  belts  worn  by  the  women  around  their  waists, 
and  the  garters  and  head  bands  worn  by  the  men. 

Dr.  Washington  Matthews  thus  describes  the  methods  followed  in 
weaving  these: 

Their  way  of  weaving  long  ribbon-like  articles,  such  as  sashes  or  belts,  garters, 
and  hair-bands,  which  we  will  next  consider,  presents  many  interesting  variations 
from  the  method  pursued  in  making  blankets.  To  form  a  sash  the  weaver  proceeds 
as  follows:  She  drives  into  the  ground  four  sticks  and  on  them  she  winds  her  warp 
as  a  continuous  string  (however,  as  the  warp  usually  consists  of  threads  of  three 


FIG.  188 — Diagram  showing  formation  of  warp  of  sash 

different  colors,  it  is  not  always  one  continuous  string),  from  below  upwards  in  such  a 
way  as  to  secure  two  sheds,  as  shown  in  the  diagram,  Fig.  188. 

Every  turn  of  the  warp  passes  over  the  sticks  a  and  b;  but  it  is  alternate  turns 
that  pass  over  c  and  d.  When  the  warp  is  laid  she  ties  a  string  around  the  inter- 
section of  the  sheds  at  e,  so  as  to  keep  the  sheds  separate  while  she  is  mounting  the 
warp  on  the  beams.  She  then  places  the  upper  beam  of  the  loom  in  the  place  of  the 
stick  b  and  the  lower  beam  in  the  place  of  the  stick  a.  Sometimes  the  upper  and 
lower  beams  are  secured  to  the  two  rails  forming  a  frame  such  as  the  warp  of  a 
blanket  is  wound  on,  but  more  commonly  the  loom  is  arranged  as  follows:  The 
upper  beam  is  secured  to  a  rafter,  post  or  tree,  while  to  the  lower  beam  is  attached 
a  loop  of  rope  that  passes  under  the  thighs  of  the  weaver,  and  the  warp  is  rendered 
tense  by  her  weight.  Next,  the  upper  shed  is  supplied  with  a  shed-rod  and  the  lower 
shed  with  a  set  of  healds.  Then  a  stick  is  inserted  at  /;  this  is  simply  a  round  stick, 
about  which  one  loop  of  each  thread  of  the  warp  is  thrown.  (Although  the  warp 
may  consist  of  only  one  thread,  I  must  now  speak  of  each  turn  as  a  separate  thread.) 
Its  use  is  to  keep  the  different  threads  in  place  and  prevent  them  from  crossing  and 
straggling;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  warp  in  this  case  is  not  secured  at 
two  points  between  three  stranded  cords,  as  is  the  blanket  warp. 

130 


BELTS,  GARTERS,  AND  HAIR  BANDS 

When  this  is  all  ready  the  insertion  of  the  weft  begins.  The  reed-fork  is  rarely 
needed  and  the  batten  used  is  much  shorter  than  that  employed  in  making  blankets. 
Fig.  189  represents  a  section  of  a  belt.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  center  is  ornamented 
with  peculiar  raised  figures;  these  are  made  by  inserting  a  slender  stick  into  the  warp, 
so  as  to  hold  up  certain  of  the  threads  while  the  weft  is  passed  twice  or  oftener  under- 
neath them.  It  is  practically  a  variety  of  damask  or  two-ply  weaving;  the  figures 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  belt  being  different.  There  is  a  limited  variety  of  these 
figures.  I  think  I  have  seen  about  a  dozen  different  kinds.  The  experienced  weaver 
is  so  well  acquainted  with  the  "  count "  or  arrangements  of  the  raised  threads  appro- 
priate to  each  pattern  that  she  goes  on  inserting  and  withdrawing  the  slender  stick 
referred  to  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  making  the  web  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  twelve 


FIG.  189 — Section  of  Navaho  belt 

inches  an  hour.  When  the  web  has  grown  to  the  point  at  which  she  cannot  weave 
it  further  without  bringing  the  unfilled  warp  nearer  to  her,  she  is  not  obliged  to 
resort  to  the  clumsy  method  used  with  blankets.  She  merely  seizes  the  anterior  layer 
of  the  warp  and  pulls  it  down  towards  her ;  for  the  warp  is  not  attached  to  the  beams, 
but  is  movable  on  them;  in  other  words,  while  still  on  the  loom  the  belt  is  endless. 
When  all  the  warp  has  been  filled  except  about  one  foot,  the  weaving  is  completed  ; 
for  then  the  unfilled  warp  is  cut  in  the  center  and  becomes  the  terminal  fringes  of  the 
now  finished  belt. 

The  only  marked  difference  that  I  have  observed  between  the  mechanical 
appliances  of  the  Navaho  weaver  and  those  of  her  Pueblo  neighbor  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  belt  loom.  The  Zuni  woman  lays  out  her  warp,  not  as  a  continuous  thread 
around  two  beams,  but  as  several  disunited  threads.  She  attaches  one  end  of  these  to 
a  fixed  object,  usually  a  rafter  in  her  dwelling,  and  the  other  to  the  belt  she  wears 
around  her  body.  She  has  a  set  of  wooden  healds  by  which  she  actuates  the  alternate 
threads  of  the  warp.  Instead  of  using  the  slender  stick  of  the  Navahos  to  elevate  the 
threads  of  the  warp  in  forming  her  figures,  she  lifts  these  threads  with  her  fingers. 


I32 


INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


This  is  an  easy  matter  with  her  style  of  loom;  but  it  would  be  a  very  difficult  task 
with  that  of  the  Navahos.  The  wooden  healds  are  shown  in  Fig.  190.  The  Zuni 

women  weave  all  their  long,  narrow 
webs  according  to  the  same  system; 
but  Mr.  Bandelier  has  informed  me 
that  the  Indians  of  the  Pueblo  of 
Cochiti  make  the  narrow  garters  and 
hair-bands  after  the  manner  of  the 
Zunis,  and  the  broad  belts  after  the 
manner  of  the  Navahos. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  com- 
pare the  photographs  of  Navaho 
weavers  and  Fig.  191.  In  the  latter 
a  girl  of  ancient  Mexico  is  weaving 
a  web  of  some  description.  The 
former  are  from  photographs  taken 
Fia.  190— Wooden  heaid  of  the  Zunis  irom  life ;  the  other  I  have  copied 

from     Taylor's     Anthropology      (p. 

248)  ;  but  it  appears  earlier  in  the  copy  of  Codex  Vaticana  in  Lord  Kingsborough's 
Antiquities  of  Mexico.  The  way  in  which  the  warp  is  held  down  and  made  tense,  by 
a  rope  or  band  secured  to  the  lower  beam  and  sat  upon  by  the  weaver,  is  the  same  in 
both  cases.  And  it  seems  that  the  artist  who  drew  the  original  rude  sketch  sought 
to  represent  the  girl,  not  as  working  "  the  cross-thread  of  the  woof  in  and  out  on  a 
stick,"  but  as  manipulating  the  reed-fork  with  one  hand  and  grasping  the  heald-rod 
and  shed-rod  in  the  other. 

Mr.  A.  M.  Stephen,  a  careful  observer,  who  lived  in  close  contact 
with  both  Navaho  and  Hopis  some  forty  years  ago,  thus  wrote  (in  an 
unpublished  manuscript)  of  Navaho  belts,  etc.: 

Aside  from  the  products  of  the  vertical  loom,  smaller  fabrics  are  woven  by  dif- 
ferent methods,  as  in  the  making  of  the  girdle.  A  woman  prepares  to  make  one  of 
these  by  spinning  the  warp  on  her  primitive  spindle  to  the  requisite  fineness,  not 
thicker  than  knitting  cotton,  and  often  as 
small  as  sewing  thread.  She  then  selects 
a  level  place  and  drives  two  stout  pegs  in 
the  ground,  from  four  to  six  inches  apart, 
and  two  others  parallel  to  these,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  from  eight  to  twelve  feet,  ac- 
cording to  the  width  and  length  pro- 
posed for  the  girdle.  Across  the  ends 
of  each  pair  of  pegs,  which  project  not 
higher  than  a  foot  above  the  ground,  a 
slender  stick  is  fastened,  and  around  these 
two  sticks,  the  warp,  of  different  colors, 
is  wound  in  the  desired  order  and  tightly  stretched.  A  common  arrangement  in  a 
girdle,  say  seven  fingers  wide,  is  to  wind  threads  of  dark  blue  so  as  to  form  a  border 
on  each  side  of  one  finger-width;  next  adjoining  these,  on  the  inside,  another  finger- 
width of  light  green,  leaving  three  finger-widths  between,  which  is  then  stretched 
with  scarlet,  and  in  the  center,  where  the  design  is  to  be  wrought,  an  additional 


FIG.  191 — Girl  weaving  (from  an  Aztec  picture) 


BELTS,  GARTERS,  AND  HAIR  BANDS  133 

finger-width  of  black  thread  is  stretched  over  the  scarlet.  A  black  weft,  wound  upon 
a  short  twig,  is  then  looped  upon  the  outside  warp-thread  and  carried  across,  above 
and  below  each  alternate  warp,  then  looped  upon  the  outside  thread  on  the  opposite 
border.  This  is  continued  along  the  entire  length  of  the  girdle,  and  as  the  upper 
and  under  warp-threads  are  brought  very  compactly  together,  the  weft  is  entirely 
concealed,  and  the  process  is  really  an  inversion  of  ordinary  weaving,  the  warp 
forming  the  surface  instead  of  the  weft. 

A  favorite  design  in  the  center  of  the  girdle  is  a  zigzag  band  extending  its  whole 
length,  with  a  conventional  figure  of  a  bird,  with  outspread  wings  within  each  angle ; 
this  is  produced  on  the  upper  or  obverse  side,  by  passing  the  weft  under  two  or  more 
threads  of  scarlet  at  once,  leaving  a  single  black  thread  below;  the  design  is  thus 
thrown  in  scarlet  relief  with  black  interstices,  upon  the  obverse  or  outside  of  the 
girdle  as  worn,  and  a  fringe  of  the  warp,  about  six  inches  long  is  left  at  each  end. 
The  women  alone  wear  girdles,  and  only  the  men  wear  garters  to  support  their  buck- 
skin leggins.  These  garters  are  made  by  a  method  slightly  modified  from  the  above, 
but  are,  of  course,  much  smaller,  although  woven  with  equal  nicety,  and  are  usually 
about  two  inches  wide  and  four  feet  long. 

Cinches  or  saddle  girths  are  also  made  in  decorated  patterns,  but  instead  of  being 
woven  between  pegs,  the  warp  is  passed  directly  between  the  large  iron  rings  or 
buckles  at  each  end.  After  the  warp  has  been  thus  arranged,  one  of  the  rings  is 
fastened  to  the  branch  of  a  tree,  or  other  convenient  support,  and  the  weaver  attaches 
the  other  ring  to  her  waist  girdle,  seating  herself  on  the  ground  in  such  a  position  as 
to  give  the  required  tension  to  the  warp,  and  the  process  she  follows  is  more  of  close, 
neat  braiding  than  weaving.  These  cinches  are  from  four  to  six  inches  wide,  and 
from  two  feet  to  thirty  inches  long. 

Dr.  R.  W.  Shufeldt,  who  thirty  years  ago  spent  many  years  on  the 
reservation,  thus  describes  and  pictures  the  Navaho  belt  weaver  at  work. 
He  says: 

Among  the  Navahos  one  will  see  a  great  many  blankets  made  before  an  oppor- 
tunity will  be  presented  for  him  to  observe  the  labors  of  a  belt-weaver.  The  reason 
for  this  is,  that  blankets  are  a  universal  necessity  with  them,  while  the  belt  is  princi- 
pally used  as  a  supplementary  adornment  in  dress.  As  my  time  for  leaving  the  coun- 
try drew  near  I  almost  despaired  of  getting  a  good  photograph  of  the  belt-weaver  and 
the  study  of  the  loom  she  used.  But  a  month  before  my  departure  an  Indian  came 
into  my  study  one  morning,  beaming  all  over  with  the  welcome  information  that  one 
of  the  best  weavers  in  the  tribe  had  started  the  making  of  a  belt  in  front  of  one  of 
their  huts.  These  Indians  were  then  building  close  to  the  confines  of  the  garrison. 

The  first  day  I  studied  her  methods  of  procedure  and  the  second  day  I  succeeded 
in  obtaining  several  excellent  pictures  of  this  weaver  at  work.  My  best  result  is 
here  offered  as  an  illustration,  and  it  well  shows  the  entire  scene.  The  woman  has 
rigged  up  her  loom  in  front  of  her  house;  she  is  busily  employed  in  her  weaving  and 

her  child  sits  beside  her.     (Fig.  192.) 

********* 

The  weaver  had  constructed  the  subvertical,  outside  part  of  the  frame  of  her 
loom  of  two  trunks  of  small  pine  trees,  averaging  a  little  over  three  inches  in  diameter, 
and  from  which  the  bark  had  not  been  removed.  Parallel  to  each  other,  and  placed 
about  a  yard  apart,  these  she  had  placed  in  a  slanting  position  against  the  front  of  her 


I34  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 


By  courtesy  of  the  National  Museum,  Smithsonian  Institution. 

FIG.  192— The  Navaho  belt  weaver  at  work 


BELTS,  GARTERS,  AND  HAIR  BANDS  135 

house  outside.  The  upper  ends  were  strapped  to  the  house,  and  the  lower  ends 
slightly  planted  in  the  earth,  being  held  more  secure  there  by  a  few  stones.  Next 
she  had  firmly  tied  on  cross  pieces,  a  double  one  a  few  inches  from  the  top,  and  a  sin- 
gle one  at  about  a  foot  above  the  ground.  Over  these  cross  pieces  the  warp  passes, 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  a  double  shed  only.  Then  a  smooth  short  rod 
is  made  to  take  up  the  alternate  threads  of  the  warp  above  the  intersection  or  in  the 
upper  shed.  This  is  easily  seen  in  the  engraving.  Below  the  intersection  of  the 
threads  of  the  warp  the  weaver  serves  the  lower  shed  with  a  set  of  healds,  which  are 
usually  composed  of  yarn,  have  their  own  rod,  and  as  in  the  case  of  the  rod  above 
the  intersection,  include  alternate  threads  of  the  warp.  When  drawn  towards  the 
weaver  the  healds  serve  the  purpose  of  opening  the  lower  shed,  and  still  another  short 
rod  is  used  to  keep  the  threads  in  place,  which  is  also  well  seen  in  the  figure,  where 
the  woman  has  her  hands  resting  upon  the  batten,  a  smooth,  flat,  and  rather  narrow 
piece  of  hard  wood.  This  is  the  last  and  yet  one  of  the  most  important  adjuncts  com- 
posing this  primitive  loom,  and  is  used  by  the  weaver  in  turning  it  horizontally  to 
open  the  shed  to  admit  the  passage  of  the  weft,  and  afterwards  to  pound  the  latter 
down  firmly  into  its  place  as  the  weaving  proceeds. 

These  belt-looms  as  in  use  among  the  Navahos  are  not  always  exactly  alike  in 
their  construction;  for  we  find  in  some  of  them  that  the  side  posts  of  the  frame  are 
omitted,  and  the  upper  cross  piece  is  fastened  to  a  tree,  and  the  lower  one  served  with 
a  loop  of  rope  through  which  the  weaver  passes  her  limbs  and  then  sits  down  upon, 
thus  holding  the  warp  of  her  belt  firm  and  tense  by  her  own  weight  as  she  sits  cross- 
legged  afterwards  at  her  work.  Other  modifications  of  this  simple  loom  are  also  to 
be  seen  in  the  contrivances  in  use  among  the  Zunians  and  other  Pueblo  tribes,  and 
there  are  a  number  of  departures  from  the  main  details  of  the  weaving  (also  to  be 
noted),  as  we  have  described  them  above. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
The  Outline  Blanket 

"D  Y  AN  "outline  blanket"  is  meant  one  the  designs  of  which  are  set 
-*-*  forth  in  lines  of  another  color,  as  illustrated  in  the  color  plate  of 
Fig.  195.  This  outlining  of  the  design  produces  a  most  charming  and 
striking  effect,  inasmuch  as  it  sets  out  the  design  with  greater  clearness. 
Just  as  a  frame  separates  a  painting  from  its  surroundings  and  determines 
its  individualness,  so  does  an  outline,  if  the  colors  are  harmonious,  show 
forth  the  beauty  and  striking  character  of  the  design. 

There  are  those  who  deem  the  outline  blanket  a  recent,  or  modern, 
innovation  in  Navaho  weaving.  Such  is  not  the  case.  Many  of  the  older 
and  better  blankets  are  in  outline,  and  it  is  interesting  to  discover  that 
long  before  the  Navahos  made  blankets  they  were  in  the  habit  of  using 
the  outline  in  their  sacred  dry-  or  sand-paintings.  A  full  account  of  these 
is  given  in  Chapter  XII.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  while  the 
use  of  the  outline  is  very  common  in  the  sand-paintings  it  is  by  no  means 
universal.  I  have  examined  and  carefully  studied  many  of  these  paintings, 
both  in  the  medicine  hogans  and  in  the  pictures  drawn  by  the  Navaho 
shamans,  and  in  some  they  appear  on  every  figure,  in  others  they  are 
absent,  while  in  some  paintings  the  outlines  are  placed  around  some 
figures,  and  omitted  from  others. 

From  these  facts,  therefore,  it  is  easy  to  infer  from  whence  the 
keen-witted  and  observant  Navaho  weaver  gained  the  idea  of  her  outline 
blanket.  Her  artistic  perception  showed  her  the  great  improvement  and 
enhancement  of  beauty  the  added  outlines  would  afford,  and  she  sought 
and  found  the  most  suitable  and  harmonious  combinations  of  color  for  the 
purpose.  Only  the  real  artist,  however,  would  do  this.  The  merely  com- 
mercial weaver,  or  the  inartistic,  could  see  no  reason  why  she  should  go 
to  the  added  labor  of  outlining  her  design.  Hence  it  is  a  general  rule  that 
can  be  relied  upon  almost  to  a  certainty  that  an  outline  blanket  is  well 
woven.  A  weaver  whose  artistic  perceptions  demand  of  her  the  increased 
labor  of  adding  the  outline  would  naturally  be  offended  with  poor  weaving. 

One  who  did  much  to  further  the  development  of  the  art  was  Mrs. 
Peabody,  an  eastern  lady  who  took  so  great  an  interest  in  the  Navahos  that 
she  went  and  lived  on  the  reservation  for  a  while.  At  this  time,  some 
twenty-five  years  ago,  she  found  the  outline  work  almost  abandoned.  But 

136 


THE  OUTLINE  BLANKET  137 

her  keen  eye  happening  to  find  a  few  choice  specimens  of  this  type  she 
began,  with  foresight  and  inspiration,  to  urge  upon  the  better  weavers, 
with  whom  she  had  influence,  that  they  reintroduce  the  outline.  Encour- 
aged by  her  intelligent  appreciation  and  the  more  material  fact  that  they 
were  able  to  obtain  a  larger  price  for  outlined  blankets,  a  keen  rivalry 
sprang  up  between  the  best  weavers  of  the  district  in  which  she  worked, 
and  today  it  is  from  this  portion  of  the  reservation  that  the  major  part 
of  the  best  "outlines"  come. 

Naturally  the  traders  of  other  sections  desired  to  reap  the  advantage 
of  these  blankets  of  higher  value  and  they  began  to  urge  upon  their 
weavers  of  the  better  class  the  introduction  of  the  outline.  To  some  extent 
they  succeeded;  hence,  now  and  again,  an  excellent  and  choice  outline 
blanket  will  come  from  a  region  where  one  scarce  expected  it. 

Fig.  J93>  described  on  page  157,  is  of  a  fine  Germantown  blanket 
in  which  there  is  considerable  outline  work  of  delicate  and  artistic  skill. 
Even  in  the  illustration,  which  gives  none  of  the  striking  color  effects,  and 
where,  indeed,  the  effect  of  the  design  on  the  sides  is  almost  lost,  the  rare 
delicacy  of  the  white  pencillings  which  outline  the  zigzags  of  color  is 
clearly  evidenced. 

Fig.  194  is  of  an  exquisitely  designed  Germantown  blanket  in  the 
Vroman  collection,  in  which  the  outline  is  used  in  the  inside  of  the  oblique, 
or  St.  Andrew's  Cross,  as  well  as  on  two  sides  of  each  o,f  the  four-sided 
figures  which  terminate  each  leg  of  the  cross.  This  emphasizing  of  the 
color  of  the  design  within  is  a  powerful  device,  with  wonderful  capabilities 
in  the  hands  of  a  skilful  and  artistic  weaver. 

Fig.  195  shows  the  white  outline  zigzag  used  to  set  off  a  heavier  line 
of  color. 

Fig.  196  is  of  a  blanket  in  the  Fred  Harvey  collection  of  modern 
weave,  in  which  a  delicate  outline  of  red  around  the  inner  side  of  the 
border  and  the  outer  edge  of  the  two  diamond  designs  of  the  center 
give  it  a  distinction  and  artistic  attractiveness  that  materially  enhance  its 
value.  The  body  of  the  blanket  is  in  silver  gray,  which  is  naturally  varied 
in  shade. 

A  good  modern  specimen  of  the  outline  type  of  blanket  is  illustrated 
in  Fig.  197.  This  was  taken  up  from  the  floor  of  my  living-room,  where 
it  has  been  in  constant  daily  use  for  between  seventeen  and  eighteen  years. 
In  color  it  is  as  rich  and  striking  as  the  day  I  purchased  it  on  the  Little 
Colorado  River,  some  fifty  miles  or  so  from  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  at 
Canyon  Diablo.  The  design  is  almost  entirely  of  zigzags,  arranged  in 
diamond  patterns  with  four  other  figures,  two  at  each  end.  The  basis  of 
the  blanket  is  red  and  orange.  The  two  center  diamonds  contain  centers  in 
orange,  outlined  in  lemon  yellow.  Each  of  these  two  large  diamonds  is 


138  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

bordered  with  black,  and  the  black  border,  on  each  side,  is  outlined  in 
white.  Half  diamonds  treated  in  the  same  fashion  throughout  appear  on 
each  side  of  the  blanket.  On  each  side  of  the  center  diamonds  are  lemon 
yellow  centers,  outlined  in  purple,  followed  with  a  red  border,  outlined 
in  rich  green.  The  two  half  diamonds  at  each  end  are  in  red,  bordered 
with  violet,  outlined  on  the  outer  side  with  a  lighter  and  a  darker  shade 
of  the  same  color,  and  on  the  inner  side  with  black.  The  four  figures 
(two  at  each  end)  are  in  black  and  green,  outlined  in  yellow. 

Fig.  198  is  a  fairly  representative  outline  blanket,  of  single  saddle 
size,  made  of  Germantown  yarn,  in  my  own  collection.  Here  the  center 
diamond  is  twice  outlined  in  serrated  lines,  and  the  four  corner  diamonds 
are  also  outlined,  thus  bringing  out  the  colors  in  striking  relief. 

There  is  great  scope  afforded  for  artistic  and  creative  ability  even 
in  so  simple  a  matter  as  these  outlines,  and  this  not  merely  in  the  fineness 
or  coarseness  of  the  weave.  The  outline  may  show  all  the  difference 
between  the  one  slight  touch  of  color  change,  that  gives  artistic  attractive- 
ness, and  the  heavy  overtouch  which  is  an  impertinence  and  intrusion.  It 
is  not  good  for  a  careless  weaver  to  attempt  the  outline. 


FIG.  195. 
Outline  Blanket. 

(Collection  of  C.  C.  Manning  Co.) 
Designed  by  Keh-yez-zhie  Be-ma. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Kachina  or  Yei  Blankets 

T  N  THE  Hop!  and  Zuni  pantheons  there  are  certain  divinities  of  greater 
or  lesser  power  and  importance,  called  Kachinas.  These  are  often 
represented  upon  the  baskets  of  the  Hopi,  as  in  Fig.  199,  and  these  are 
called  Kachina  baskets.  Corresponding  somewhat  to  these  Pueblo  divin- 
ities are  the  Navaho  Yei,  representations  of  which  are  common  in  the 
sand-paintings.  To  reproduce  these,  however,  in  any  unauthorized  or 
secular  fashion  has  always  been  deemed  impossible  by  the  reverent  and 
devout  Navaho.  Even  to  see  a  photograph  of  a  sand-painting,  if  it  con- 
tained a  representation  of  the  Yei,  gave  a  shock  to  most  Navahos,  and 
while  the  medicine-men  chanters  never  resented  Dr.  Matthews's  making 
pictures  of  the  paintings,  and,  indeed,  as  he  says,  often  came  to  ask  to 
look  at  them  when  instructing  younger  members  as  their  assistants,  this 
may  be  regarded  as  the  familiarity  of  the  professional  rather  than  the 
normal  attitude  of  the  ordinary  lay  member  of  the  tribe. 

Possibly  strict  truth  demands  that  a  little  explanation  be  made 
of  the  feeling  of  the  Navahos  about  reproducing  pictorial  representations 
of  the  Yei.  While  in  many  there  is  no  doubt  that  reverence  and  devout 
feeling  enter  into  this  disinclination  to  reproduce  the  sacred  Yei,  to  others, 
especially  of  the  men,  fear  and  superstition  have  a  large  place.  One  may 
have  both  fear  and  superstitition  and  yet  be  reverent  and  devout,  but,  too 
often,  alas,  not  only  with  Navahos  but  also  with  whites,  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  being  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  the  former  and  not  of  the  latter. 
It  is  when  fear  and  superstition  reign  supreme,  unsanctified,  unmodified 
by  reverence  and  devotion,  that  fanaticism,  bigotry,  and  cruelty  control. 

With  these  thoughts  in  view  it  can  well  be  understood  with  what 
shocked  surprise,  thrilled  horror,  and  fierce  condemnation  the  Navahos 
learned  that  a  blanket,  clearly  of  Navaho  origin,  was  on  exhibition  at  a 
certain  trader's  store  into  which  was  woven  as  the  design  the  figure  of  one 
of  the  yei.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  a  white  man  to  comprehend  the 
vast  sensation  this  caused.  Councils  were  held  over  the  reservation  to 
discuss  the  matter,  and  the  trader  was  finally  commanded  to  remove  the 
blanket  containing  the  offending  emblems  from  the  wall  of  his  office.  He 
refused,  and  for  a  time  his  life  was  deemed  in  jeopardy.  But  he  was  a 
fearless  and  obstinate  man,  and  resisted  all  the  pressure  brought  to  bear 

139 


i4o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

upon  him,  though  among  themselves  the  Navahos  still  argued  and  dis- 
cussed the  sacrilege,  and  a  shooting-scrape  in  which  one  man  lost  his  life 
was  the  outcome. 

For  a  long  time  it  was  not  known  who  the  weaver  of  this  blanket 
was,  but  it  eventually  became  known.  She  is  one  of  the  inventive  geniuses 
in  design,  whose  taste  invariably  goes  to  figures.  Horses,  sheep,  cattle, 
men,  women,  etc.,  she  loves  to  picture  as  she  weaves,  and  her  skill  in 
manipulating  the  yarn  is  as  great  as  her  designing  ability.  She  it  was 
who,  having  lost  the  superstitious  fear  that  oppresses  most  Navahos,  men 
or  women,  as  to  the  evil  power  of  the  Yei,  determined  to  make  the  blanket, 
incorporating  their  sacred  figures  as  her  design.  The  blanket  was  seen  by 
a  collector  and  sold  to  him  for  several  hundred  dollars.  For  some  time 
the  weaver  refused  to  make  another,  but  finally  produced  one  of  others 
of  the  gods,  and  later  still  another.  There  are  only  some  six  or  seven  of 
these  Yei  blankets  known  to  exist.  Two  of  them  are  now  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Richard  T.  F.  Simpson,  Indian  trader  at  Canyon  Gallegos,  near 
Farmington,  New  Mexico,  one  of  which  is  reproduced  in  Fig.  200,  and 
another  is  owned  by  Mr.  William  MacGinnies,  of  Boulder,  Colorado. 

Fig.  20 1  is  a  half-tone  reproduction  of  one  of  the  earlier  of 
this  woman's  Yei  blankets.  This  is  clearly  an  attempt  to  produce  in 
weaving  one  of  the  figures  from  one  of  the  sand-paintings  used  in  The 
Night  Chant.  The  figure  is  that  of  a  Yebaad,  or  female  divinity,  for  the 
Navahos  provide  all  the  male  gods  of  their  pantheon  with  wives.  This 
may  account  for  the  fact  that  Navaho  women  are  equally  influential  in  the 
affairs  of  the  tribe  as  the  men.  Or  it  may  be  the  other  way,  viz.,  that 
because  Navaho  women  are  powerful  and  influential  in  tribal  matters 
they  therefore  occupy  an  important  place  in  the  Navaho  pantheon. 

In  The  Night  Chant  the  female  divinities  are  supposed  to  exercise 
great  healing  influence,  and  they  generally  appear  in  the  dances  on  the  two 
last  nights.  In  these  dances  the  character  is  generally  assumed  by  a 
youth,  largely  naked,  the  exposed  portion  of  the  body  being  painted  white. 
He  wears  an  ornate  scarf  or  skirt  around  the  hips  with  a  belt,  the  ends  of 
which  are  fringed  or  tasselled,  and  from  which  depend  pieces  of  twigs  of 
juniper  or  other  ornamentation. 

These  are  crudely  represented  in  the  figure,  while  the  skirt  or  loin 
cloth  is  represented  by  the  widening  out  of  the  design  above  the  knees. 
The  peculiar  dangling  objects  at  the  two  bottom  corners  of  the  skirts  are 
bunches  of  tassels  or  other  ornaments  of  which  the  Navahos  are  inordi- 
nately fond.  The  head  dress  or  mask  of  the  Yebaad  is  of  the  female 
type,  which  differs  fundamentally  from  that  of  the  Yei,  or  male  gods. 
While  the  latter,  like  a  bag  inverted,  covers  the  entire  head  and  neck, 
and  completely  conceals  the  hair  of  the  wearer,  the  former  conceals  only 


FIG.  196. 
A  Fine  Modern  Blanket  of  the  Best  Type. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 


[PAGE   137] 


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i 


KACHINA  OR  YEI  BLANKETS  141 

the  face  and  throat  and  allows  the  hair  to  flow  out  freely  over  the 
shoulders.  The  Yebaad  actor  never  wears  the  hair  bound  up  in  a  queue. 
While  the  male  mask  is  soft  and  pliable,  the  female  mask  is  stiff  and  hard, 
being  made  of  untanned  skin.  It  is  nearly  square  in  shape;  the  top  is 
slightly  rounded  and  in  some  cases  the  base  is  a  little  broader  than  the 
top.  There  is  a  flap  or  wing,  called  the  ear,  on  each  side  about  two 
inches  broad,  as  long  as  the  margin  of  the  mask  proper,  and  indented  or 
crenated  on  the  outer  margin.  The  margins  are  all  alike  in  each  set  of 
masks,  but  not  in  any  two  sets.  The  hole  for  the  mouth  is  square.  The 
holes  for  the  eyes  are  triangular — the  apices  pointing  outwards.  The 
mask  is  painted  blue,  the  ears  white,  a  square  field  around  the  mouth-hole, 
and  a  triangular  field  around  each  eye-hole  are  black. 

The  Yebaad  holds  a  bunch  of  spruce  twigs  in  each  hand  and  long  arm 
pendants  hang  down  from  elbows  to  wrist.  The  lower  legs  are  uncov- 
ered, to  denote  that  the  figure  is  standing  or  dancing,  the  skirt  always 
covering  the  legs  of  a  sitting  figure. 

Fig.  202  is  from  a  painting  made  of  another  noted  Yei  blanket, 
owned  by  Mr.  W.  MacGinnies.  Its  size  is  fifty-eight  by  eighty-seven 
inches,  and  it  is  made  throughout  of  wool,  both  the  warp  and  weft.  The 
background  is  a  beautiful  silver  gray,  somewhat  similar,  and  as  closely 
approximating  as  the  dyer  could  attain,  to  the  gray  sand  used  in  the  sacred 
paintings.  The  chief  and  outside  figure,  which  makes  the  border  for 
three-fourths  of  the  way  around  the  blanket,  is  that  of  the  rainbow  deity. 

In  the  paintings  it  consists  of  two  long  stripes,  each  about  two  inches  wide,  one 
of  blue,  one  of  red,  bordered  and  separated  by  narrow  lines  of  white.  At  the 
southeastern  end  of  the  bow  is  a  representation  of  the  body  below  the  waist,  such 
as  the  other  gods  have,  consisting  of  pouch,  skirts,  legs,  and  feet.  At  the  north- 
eastern end  we  have  head,  neck,  and  arms.  The  head  of  the  rainbow  is  rectangular, 
while  the  heads  of  the  other  forms  in  the  picture  are  round. 

There  are  those  who  have  seen  this  blanket  who  affirm  that  it  is  a 
reproduction  of  one  of  the  pictures  of  a  sand-painting  used  by  either  Dr. 
Matthews  or  Colonel  Stevenson  to  describe  certain  ceremonies  of  The 
Night  Chant,  in  one  of  the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 
Such  is  not  the  case.  There  are  some  points  of  similarity,  but  in  some 
most  important  points  this  blanket  is  strikingly  dissimilar. 

Mr.  MacGinnies  informs  me  that  certain  Navahos  gave  him  the 
following  explanation  of  the  design: 

The  outside  figure,  the  one  extending  three-quarters  around  the  rug,  is  the  god 
of  double  sex,  being  the  Navaho  way  of  expressing  their  conception  of  the  deity,  who 
never  dies,  constantly  reproducing  himself,  so  to  speak,  the  red  part  representing  the 
male  and  the  blue  the  female.  This  was  the  being  who,  according  to  their  traditions, 
gave  them  the  corn,  and  you  will  notice  an  ear  of  corn  pass  between  the  hands  of 
this  figure  and  of  the  god  next  to  it  on  the  blanket. 


i42  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

The  other  figures  are  shown  as  giving  the  lightning  and  the  rain;  the  corn  stalk 
with  its  symbolic  number,  three  ears  of  corn ;  the  bluebird,  representing  the  messenger, 
resting  upon  the  tassel  at  the  tip  of  the  stalk;  the  rainbow  colors,  which  are  also  the 
colors  of  the  Summer  People  under  the  feet  of  the  figures.  The  long  strings  of  half 
diamonds  depending  from  the  hands  of  the  two  inner  figures  have  been  explained  to 
me  as  being  the  calendar  sticks,  they  being  divided  into  certain  numbers  of  different 
colors  to  represent  different  epochs  or  pages  in  the  history  of  the  people,  the  true 
crosses  at  the  end  of  the  strings  being  either  symbolic  of  the  deity  or  being  phallic 
symbols. 

I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  Mr.  MacGinnies  has  been  misin- 
formed. As  I  have  elsewhere  explained,  the  Navahos  believe  there  are 
five  colors  in  the  rainbow,  and  some  assert  that  each  color  is  a  different 
individual.  Hence,  according  to  this  theory,  there  are  five  rainbow 
goddesses.  It  will  be  noticed  that  there  are  five  distinct  lines  in  the  out- 
side figure,  the  white  and  yellow  separating  the  red  and  the  black.  This 
gives  the  five  colors,  or  the  five  goddesses,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  bird 
represented  is  the  bluebird  (Sialia  arctica),  which  is  called  by  the  Navahos 
Tholy.  He  is  of  the  color  of  the  south,  and  the  upper  regions.  He  is 
the  herald  of  the  morning.  His  call  of  "Tholy,  Tholy"  is  the  first  that 
is  heard  when  the  gray  dawn  approaches.  Therefore,  is  he  sacred,  and 
his  feathers  form  a  component  part  of  nearly  all  the  plume-sticks  used 
in  the  worship  of  the  Navaho.  Two  bluebirds,  it  is  said,  stand  guard  at 
the  door  of  the  house  where  the  gods  dwell;  hence  they  are  represented 
in  the  east  of  the  picture. 

There  is  little  or  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  this  blanket  is  a 
more  or  less  accurate  reproduction  of  some  sand-painting  used  in  a  cere- 
mony to  which  the  women  have  free  access,  and  that  the  white  race,  as  yet, 
has  no  photograph  or  drawing  of.  As  I  have  before  explained,  we  have 
but  few  of  the  sand-paintings  pictured,  and  no  one  as  far  as  I  know,  save 
Mrs.  John  Wetherill,  is  now  engaged  in  study  upon  this  important  and 
instructive  branch  of  Navaho  ceremonial  and  religious  art. 

The  rarity  of  these  Yei  blankets  makes  them  highly  desirable,  and 
happy  is  that  collector  who  has  one  in  his  possession. 

Another  blanket  that  contains  some  of  the  sacred  symbols  of  the 
sand-paintings  is  shown  in  Fig.  203,  designed  and  wqven  by  Dug-gau- 
eth-lun  Bi-dazhie.  It  is  64x92  inches  in  size,  and  the  swastikas,  with 
their  flying  terminals,  are  regarded  with  great  reverence  and  superstition 
by  the  devout  Navahos.  This  woman  and  her  near  relatives  who  are 
weavers  have  overcome  their  superstitious  dread  about  the  making  of 
such  blankets,  for  they  have  repeated  this  and  similar  designs  in  a  dozen 
or  more  blankets  during  the  past  ten  years.  They  are  ready  to  make 
them  to  order  in  any  colors,  sizes  varying  from  45x75  inches  up  to  6x9 
feet.  These  blankets  are  classed  as  extra  standard. 


FIG.  199. 
Hopi  Basket,  Showing  Figure  of  Kachina. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Classification  of  Modern  Blankets 

/TSHE   chief  points   to   be   considered  in   determining  the  value   of   a 
modern  blanket  are — 

1.  Size  and  Quality  of  Warp. 

2.  Size  and  Quality  of  Woof  or  Weft. 

3.  Quality  and  Harmony  of  Color. 

4.  Firmness  and  Regularity  of  Weave. 

5.  Originality  and  Attractiveness  of  Design. 

Let  us  look  at  each  of  these  points  with  a  view  to  aiding  the  intending 
purchaser  to  know  intelligently  what  he  is  doing. 

Size  and  Quality  of  Warp.  —  Except  in  very  light  weight  blankets 
an  all-wool  warp  should  be  insisted  upon.  As  I  have  shown  in  the  chapter 
on  the  deterioration  of  the  art,  cotton-warps  were  introduced  to  cheapen 
the  price  by  saving  the  time  of  the  weaver.  Unfortunately,  it  did  not  have 
the  desired  effect.  The  weaver  expected  as  much  for  her  cotton-warped 
blanket — which  warp  she  had  bought  for  a  small  sum  —  as  she  did  for 
the  blanket  made  on  honestly-woven,  strong,  and  durable  wool  warp  which 
would  have  taken  her  several  days  to  spin.  A  cotton  warp  is  less  yield- 
ing than  wool;  its  tensile  strength  is  very  much  less,  hence  when  there  is 
any  pressure  placed  upon  the  fabric  a  cotton  warp  will  often  give  way 
and  the  blanket  is  then  on  the  way  to  speedy  dissolution. 

The  size  of  the  warp  is  a  matter  for  serious  consideration,  and  the 
tightness  with  which  it  is  spun.  It  is,  as  it  were,  the  skeleton  upon  which 
the  flesh  of  the  woof  or  weft  is  hung.  It  must  be  large  enough  and  tightly 
woven  enough  to  bear  the  weft  to  stand  all  the  ordinary  and  expected 
strains  that  may  be  made  upon  it.  Many  an  otherwise  good  blanket  is 
almost  valueless  because  the  warp  strands  are  not  thick  and  strong  enough, 
by  tight  spinning,  to  bear  the  strain  of  shaking  or  using  in  the  fairly  rough 
manner  such  household  articles  are  commonly  subjected  to. 

Size  of  Woof.  —  It  must  be  evident  to  every  purchaser  that  a  coarse, 
loosely-spun  yarn  cannot  make  as  durable,  beautiful,  or  desirable  a  blan- 
ket as  one  made  from  a  fine  tightly-spun  yarn.  Many  blankets  of  har- 
monious color  and  striking  design  are  undesirable  because  the  weft  is 
not  composed  of  a  fine  and  tightly-woven  yarn.  Then,  too,  no  fine  blan- 
ket can  be  made  from  a  coarse  varn.  The  finer  the  yarn  the  greater 

143 


144  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

demand  upon  the  weaver  to  "batten"  it  down  well  in  weaving.  Hence  a 
fine  yarn  blanket  is  prima-facie  a  better-woven  and,  therefore,  more  dur- 
able one  than  one  with  a  coarse  yarn. 

In  the  working  out  of  design,  too,  a  fine  woof  or  weft  yarn  is  essen- 
tial. The  fine  lines  that  often  delight  the  eye,  and  the  introduction  of 
slight  touches  of  color  here  and  there  that  make  all  the  difference  between 
the  mediocre  or  commonplace  and  the  striking  and  distinctive  are  impos- 
sible with  a  coarse  woof  yarn. 

Quality  of  Woof  Yarn.  —  But  not  only  must  the  woof  yarn  be  tightly 
spun;  it  must  be  of  good  quality  wool,  silky  in  texture,  of  Jong  staple, 
and  of  great  tensile  strength.  Where  it  is  possible  —  and  if  there  is  a 
fringe  made  of  the  same  yarn  as  the  woof  it  answers  as  if  prepared  for 
the  purpose  —  the  yarn  should  be  carefully  examined.  The  finer  the 
wool,  the  softer  and  silkier  to  the  feel,  the  longer  the  staple,  and  the 
stronger  it  proves  itself,  the  better  the  blanket.  But  even  with  all  these 
qualities  in  its  favor  the  wool  may  be  dirty,  and  therefore  unable  to  receive 
or  retain  the  color  in  which  it  is  dyed.  Hence  its  cleanliness  and  freedom 
from  extraneous  substances,  as  small  burrs,  pieces  of  vegetable  fibre,  small 
sticks,  etc.,  should  be  considered  and  carefully  examined  into.  Where  one 
has  the  opportunity  of  comparing  the  grade  of  blankets  I  have  designated 
as  "common"  with  the  "extra  standard,"  or  "native  wool  fancy"  grades, 
he  will  readily  note  the  differences,  and  understand  why  he  should  pay 
more  for  the  better  class  of  blankets  than  the  former,  even  though  the 
former  look  quite  as  well,  or  even  better,  to  his  eye,  than  the  latter. 

Color.  —  Color  is  a  most  important  factor  in  a  blanket.  In  the  first 
days  of  aniline  dyes  when  the  Navahos  were  suddenly  awakened  to  the 
fact  that  the  whole  rainbow  gamut  of  colors  was  open  to  them  at  ten 
cents  a  package,  they  indulged  in  a  riot  of  colors  that  was  a  debauch  and 
delirium  combined.  There  are  still  some  remnants  left  of  this  wild 
frenzy  of  unrestrained  color  in  the  Navahos'  minds,  though  the  conser- 
vative traders  have  ceased  to  supply  certain  of  the  colors  whose  use  is 
likely  to  be  disadvantageous.  So  long  as  the  Indians  were  left  to  their 
own  unperverted  tastes  their  color  harmonies  were  pleasing,  and  though 
somewhat  limited,  perfect  and  satisfying.  But  when  they  were  given 
unrestrained  freedom,  with  the  idea  that  the  white  man  desired  the  frenzy 
of  color,  their  normal  tastes  became  perverted,  and  it  is  one  of  the  unfor- 
tunate facts  of  life  that  ten  years  of  exercise  of  a  perverted  taste  takes 
four  times  ten  years  to  eradicate. 

Hence  determine  whether  the  colors  are  pleasing  in  themselves,  har- 
monious in  relation  to  each  other,  and  then  whether  they  will  harmonize 
with  the  color-scheme  into  which  you  wish  to  introduce  the  blanket. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  Time  is  a  kindly  ministrant  to 


FIG.  200. 
Blanket  with  Yei  or  Divinity  Design. 

(Courtesy  of  R.  T.  F.  Simpson.)  [PAGE   140] 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  145 

loud  or  unrestrained  colors.  Even  as  he  tones  down  the  exuberant  boister- 
ousness  of  youth,  so  does  he  subdue,  soften,  and  render  mellow  and  har- 
monious the  riot  of  colors  some  otherwise  excellent  blankets  contain.  This 
has  been  proven  in  many  cases,  where  twenty-five  years  have  worked 
wonders  on  highly  colored  blankets  and  toned  them  down  to  soft  and 
pleasing  blends. 

Weave.  —  Now  comes  the  question  of  weave.  Is  the  blanket  well 
woven?  Square?  Even  in  stitch?  In  some  places  the  weaver  " bungles " 
her  work.  (See  Fig.  207.)  In  other  words,  she  does  not  take  her  woof 
straight  across  where  there  is  nothing  to  hinder,  and  then  she  "fills  up" 
the  space  awkwardly  and  clumsily  to  the  manifest  injury  of  the  looks  of  the 
blanket.  Regularity  should  be  insisted  upon,  and  then,  for  a  good  blan- 
ket, be  sure  to  see  that  each  row  of  woof  is  well  "battened"  down  —  in 
other  words,  that  it  is  tight  and  solid. 

And  yet,  somehow,  there  is  another  side  to  what  I  have  termed  above 
"bungling."  In  this  blanket  from  which  the  illustrative  photograph  is 
made  (Fig.  207),  as  well  as  others  in  my  possession,  this  very  irregularity 
of  the  weave  produces  a  pleasing  effect  on  the  mind.  It  arouses  thought. 
What  made  the  weaver  do  it?  Why  did  she  not  go  directly  across  the 
fabric  with  this  yarn  when  she  desired  it  to  be  of  the  same  color  and  stitch? 

Then  a  picture  comes  to  me  of  a  somewhat  tired  weaver,  squatted 
before  her  blanket,  the  sun  just  happening  at  that  time  of  the  day  to  be 
in  such  a  position  that  if  she  moved  a  trifle  to  right  or  left  her  tired 
shoulders  would  come  directly  under  its  powerful  rays.  Too  weary  to 
make  the  effort  to  move  or  to  place  a  screen  between  herself  and  the  sun, 
and  made  a  trifle  careless  by  her  weariness,  her  tired  hands  reach  as  far 
as  the  shade  goes,  and  then  sends  the  ball  of  yarn  back,  thus  making  the 
"bungle"  or  irregularity  that  nothing  but  the  destruction  of  the  blanket 
can  efface.  How  human  and  how  real.  How  close  it  brings  one  to  the 
blanket.  It  is  a  "bungle,"  but  it  makes  the  blanket  mean  more  than  it 
did  before.  It  gives  it  the  human  touch,  that  flash  of  life  and  reality  that 
sets  it  distinct  and  apart  from  machine  work.  It  makes  it  the  work  of  a 
personal,  living,  sentient  human  being.  And  these  recognitions  of 
humanity  in  such  work  are  good.  They  are,  in  reality,  most  precious  in 
the  things  we  are  able  to  purchase. 

In  this  connection  my  attention  has  been  called  to  the  assertion  made 
that  when  these  "bungles"  appear  in  Oriental  rugs  they  are  done  pur- 
posely, in  order  to  confuse  the  evil  spirits  who  might  otherwise  work 
injury  to  the  weavers  or  users  of  the  rug;  and  the  question  is  asked,  May 
not  the  Navaho  weavers  be  controlled  by  the  same  idea? 

I  do  not  think  so.  While  superstitious,  the  Navaho  weavers'  dread 
is  not  aroused  in  this  direction,  and  in  all  my  talks  with  them,  while  this 


i46  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

kind  of  question  has  often  been  asked,  there  has  never  been  any  response 
given  that  suggested  such  fear.  Furthermore,  if  it  were  a  general  supersti- 
tion all  the  blankets  would  show  similar  erratic  weaving.  The  fact  that 
very  few  blankets  in  a  thousand  are  so  woven  is  conclusive  proof  that  they 
are  not  influenced  by  such  a  fear. 

Design.  —  The  marvel  of  the  infinite  variety  in  Navaho  blanket 
designs  never  grows  less.  The  more  one  sees  and  knows  the  more  the 
marvel  grows.  From  the  simple  and  plain  alternate  bands  pictured  in 
Fig.  204,  of  the  common  type,  to  the  complex,  highly  ornate,  and  bril- 
liantly colored  designs  created  by  a  modern  genius  is  a  gigantic  step  in 
artistic  development,  and  one  for  which  the  aboriginal  weaver  is  entitled 
to  our  highest  consideration  and  appreciation. 

Naturally  in  choosing  a  fine  blanket  the  quality  of  the  design  is  a 
matter  the  importance  of  which  cannot  be  too  highly  estimated.  Personal 
taste,  necessarily,  largely  enters  into  the  choice  of  a  design.  What  will 
please  one  may  be  displeasing  to  another.  The  place  the  blanket  is  to  fill 
should  be  a  helping  factor  in  coming  to  a  decision.  As  a  rule,  however, 
too  great  complexity  is  not  desirable,  the  plainer  and  simpler  the  design, 
in  reason,  the  more  pleasing  it  becomes  with  time.  There  are  some 
designs,  however,  such,  for  instance,  as  that  shown  in  Fig.  205,  that  are 
too  simple,  too  plain,  too  large,  for  general  use.  A  plain  series  of  stripes 
or  bands  would  be  much  preferable  to  this  "  Greek  key"  on  so  large  a  scale. 

On  the  other  hand  the  one  large  panel  of  Fig.  206  is  so  broken  up  by 
the  black  and  white  bands  that  it  does  not  seem  too  large,  and  although 
the  blanket  is  60x96  inches  in  size,  and  the  single  panel  practically  fills 
up  the  whole  space,  there  has  never  been  a  moment  when  it  has  seemed 
inappropriate  or  unpleasing. 

In  considering  this  subject  of  design  the  reader  should  not  overlook 
the  fact  that  the  Navahos  have  proven  themselves  possessed  of  inventive 
genius  in  this  department  of  art.  There  are  no  "  stock  "  designs  as  far  as 
they  are  concerned.  Repetition  of  design  comes  from  the  desire  of  the 
white  race  for  duplication  —  "I  want  a  blanket  exactly  like  that  one  "  — 
never  from  the  unperverted,  natural  instincts  of  the  weaver.  And  while 
I  feel  that  my  publishers  have  been  generous  in  the  number  of  illustra- 
tions they  have  included  in  this  book,  to  me  the  number  is  inadequate  and 
altogether  limited  as  far  as  conveying  to  the  reader  anything  like  an  idea 
of  the  vast  and  marvelous  variety  a  study  of  the  Navaho's  textiles  affords. 
Multiply  the  designs  reproduced  herein  by  ten  thousand  and  still  new  and 
striking  designs  will  continually  be  found.  Hence  the  exacting  con- 
noisseur should  not  hesitate  to  discard  a  thousand  designs,  if  necessary,  to 
secure  what  he  desires,  for  he  may  rest  assured  that  if  he  is  patient  and 
persistent,  the  one  design  of  his  longing  will  ultimately  come  into  his  hands. 


FIG.  201. 
Yei  Blanket. 


[PAGE  140] 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  147 

While  I  have  thus  attempted  to  analyze  the  elemental  factors  that 
go  to  the  making  of  a  good  Navaho  blanket,  no  one  knows  better  than  I 
how  inadequate  my  attempt  is.  For  after  all,  when  the  fire  of  genius 
burns  it  will  manifest  itself  even  though  the  instrumentality  be  poor  warp, 
and  unclean,  ill-spun,  poorly  dyed  weft.  Genius  rises  triumphant  over  all 
adverse  conditions  and  compels  admiration  and  respect  in  spite  of  them. 
But,  when  genius  triumphs  and  is  enabled  to  use  perfect  and  fitting  mani- 
festations for  its  soarings,  then  —  when  the  result  is  a  Navaho  blanket  — 
one  has  a  poem  of  weaving,  shot  through  and  through  with  an  exquisite 
melody,  accompanied  by  glorious  harmonies  of  color  that  make  the  design. 
These  are  the  priceless  treasures  one  occasionally  sees  in  the  collections 
of  connoisseurs,  more  rarely  has  offered  to  him  for  sale,  and  now  and 
again  triumphantly  finds  when  rambling  in  solitary  and  wild  places  on  the 
reservation,  far,  far  away  from  the  haunts  of  civilized  and  artistically 
sophisticated  mankind. 

In  what  is  presented  above  there  is  that  which  will  enable  a  tyro  to 
determine  the  relative  value  of  a  Navaho  blanket,  but  to  those  engaged  in 
the  purchase  and  sale  of  them  as  a  business,  there  is  still  another  individ- 
ualistic analysis  of  blankets  for  purposes  of  broad  classification  which 
others  may  find  helpful  and  suggestive. 

It  must  be  recognized,  however,  at  the  outset,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
classify  and  describe  a  Navaho  blanket  as  the  products  of  the  white  man's 
loom  are  classified.  The  colors  are  dissimilar,  the  weave  is  different,  the 
designs  are  individualistic,  and,  therefore,  play  up  and  down  a  marvelous 
gamut,  the  warp  and  woof  threads  are  spun  tighter  or  looser  according  to 
the  whim  of  the  weaver,  the  finished  product  is  closely  or  more  loosely 
woven  according  to  the  time  taken  or  haste  shown  in  the  work.  Hence, 
practically  every  Indian  blanket  must  be  examined  for  itself  and  then 
placed  in  a  broad  classification  to  which  it  belongs,  only,  however,  by  a 
consideration  of  its  general  characteristics. 

This  broad  classification  scheme  is  as  follows,  with  examples  and 
descriptions  which  will  broadly  typify  each  class: 

/.  Common 

Generally  these  are  woven  of  coarse  yarn,  an  eighth  of  an  inch  more 
or  less  in  diameter,  made  of  wool  that  has  been  indifferently  cleaned  and 
dyed.  They  are  usually  made  for  saddle-blankets,  and  are  in  reds,  blacks, 
dirty  whites,  and  grays,  with  other  colors  occasionally  appearing.  No 
first-class  dealer  ever  cares  to  handle  this  type  of  blanket,  unless  it  be  that 
some  one  orders  a  quantity  for  a  special  purpose  or  that  he  pick  out  a 


i48  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

few  of  a  little  better  quality  than  the  average.  There  is  no  reliability  to 
be  placed  upon  the  warp,  anything  being  used  that  is  most  readily  at  hand. 
It  may  be  strong  and  even  of  wool,  but,  equally,  it  may  be  rotten  and 
cotton.  Generally  they  are  of  a  simple  striped  pattern,  though  some- 
times I  have  bought  them  of  a  coarse  diagonal  weave,  and  twenty  years 
or  so  ago  one  could  occasionally  pick  up  a  well-woven  blanket  in  this 
class. 

The  average  size  of  a  saddle-blanket  may  be  said  to  be  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  36x48  inches;  some  being  a  trifle  larger  and  some  smaller.  A 
"common"  blanket  larger  than  this  size  is  seldom  to  be  desired,  though 
often  found  in  the  cheaper  "  curio  "  stores,  where  trashy  blankets  are  dis- 
posed of  to  the  unwary.  Beware  of  these  places.  There  are  plenty  of 
reliable  dealers  to  be  found,  and  the  mail  order  business,  referred  to  in 
the  chapter  devoted  to  reliable  dealers,  places  any  would-be  purchaser  in 
the  United  States  in  immediate  contact  with  those  whose  knowledge  and 
experience  are  safeguards  and  assurances  against  deception. 

Blankets  of  the  "  common  "  variety  can  generally  be  bought,  in  quan- 
tity, by  the  pound.  All  else  are  now  sold,  as  a  rule,  by  the  piece,  though 
there  are  still  a  few  traders  who  sell  certain  grades  to  their  retailers  by 
the  pound.  The  public,  however,  can  seldom  buy  in  any  other  way  than 
the  piece. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  comparatively  speaking,  there  are  a 
great  many  of  this  poorer  quality  of  blankets  made  which  find  their  way 
into  circulation  through  the  hands  of  irresponsible  traders.  And  by  this 
I  do  not  mean  dishonest  traders  —  they  buy  these  blankets  at  a  low  price 
and  sell  them  correspondingly.  But  they  often  come  into  the  hands  of 
dealers  —  wholesale  and  retail  —  who  care  nothing  for  quality  or  price 
so  long  as  they  can  collect  their  toll  from  everything  that  passes  through 
their  hands.  Hence,  while  compared  with  the  number  of  the  superior 
grades  of  blankets  that  the  reliable  Indian  traders  and  wholesalers  suc- 
ceed in  obtaining  the  number  of  these  poor  blankets  is  small,  in  the  aggre- 
gate they  amount  to  a  large  enough  quantity  to  lead  the  wise  purchaser 
to  be  cautious.  Unless  one  is  assured  that  he  knows  it  is  far  better  to  trust 
to  the  judgment  of  an  expert,  or  purchase  only  from  those  who  deal  in  no 
other  than  first-class  and  unquestionably  desirable  blankets,  than  to  run 
the  risk  of  having  one  of  these  common  grades  thrust  into  one's  possession. 

Now  and  again  where  one  has  large  experience  and  knowledge  he 
may  "  pick  up  "  either  from  a  trader  on  the  reservation,  or  a  weaver,  one 
or  more  of  these  common  type  of  a  little  better  quality  and  finer  weave, 
and  such  are  often  good  enough  to  use  for  places  where  a  first-class  and 
expensive  blanket  is  not  desired.  Occasionally  I  have  made  purchases  of 
this  kind  and  have  always  found  a  ready  market  for  them  amongst  those 


FIG.  202. 
Yei  Blanket  from  a  Painting. 

(By  permission  of  the  owner,  W.  MacGinnies.)  [PAGE   141] 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  149 

of  my  friends  and  others  who  desired  a  cheaper  blanket,  and  yet  who  did 
not  wish  to  waste  their  money  on  a  worthless  one. 

Of  this  class  of  blanket  the  one  in  the  loom  and  covering  the  knees 
of  the  weaver  in  Fig.  207  may  be  regarded  as  a  type,  though  it  does  not 
always  follow  that  blankets  without  design  or  color  (as  is  the  one  in  the 
loom),  are  always  trashily  common. 

Fig.  208  is  also  of  what  might  be  termed  a  little  better  quality  of 
common  blanket.  Here  bands  of  color  are  introduced,  in  which  geometri- 
cal figures  are  worked  in  simple  but  effective  fashion.  Fig.  209  also  is 
another  specimen  of  this  class.  While  of  a  cheap  variety,  it  is  not  unpleas- 
ing,  the  banded  and  colored  effect  being  variable  enough  to  destroy 
monotony. 

Fig.  210  is  of  a  common  blanket  in  the  Matthews  collection,  closely 
woven,  twilled  and  practically  waterproof,  while  Fig.  211,  not  being  so 
closely  woven,  is  better  fitted  for  rough  use  as  a  camping-out  blanket. 

This  fact  should  ever  be  borne  in  mind,  viz.,  that  a  heavy,  closely 
woven  blanket  is  not  suited  either  for  a  bed-blanket  or  for  camping-out 
purposes,  unless  one  places  it  underneath  him.  The  stiffness  makes  the 
blanket  so  that  it  does  not  fit  snugly  to  the  body,  and  the  result  is  that 
if  one  attempts  to  use  one  of  this  type  for  either  of  these  purposes  he  is 
sure  to  be  disappointed. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  loosely  woven  blankets,  especially  if  the 
yarn  is  not  too  coarse,  are  highly  suitable  for  both  these  purposes,  though 
the  ordinary  types  are  much  too  heavy  for  bed  use  except  in  a  very 
cold  climate. 

Now  and  again  what  may  almost  be  regarded  as  another  type  of 
common  blanket  finds  its  way  to  the  market,  or  can  be  purchased  on  the 
reservation.  I  have  had  many  of  them  during  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
This  type  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  212.  At  first  the  stranger  to  it  wonders 
why  it  is  woven  half  with  a  design  and  half  without.  Here  is  the  reason. 
It  is  a  saddle-blanket,  which,  before  being  placed  on  the  horse's  back, 
must  be  doubled.  The  plain  portion  is  then  next  to  the  horse  —  because 
it  is  hidden  —  while  the  "designed"  half  is  outside  and  exposed.  While 
at  first  when  these  are  placed  upon  the  floor,  or  on  a  porch,  as  rugs,  they 
have  a  peculiar  and  sometimes  unpleasantly  strange  effect,  I  know  of 
many  cases  where  their  owners  have  become  quite  fond  of  them  and  have 
learned  to  enjoy  their  singularity. 

//.  Standard 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  awakening  industry  there  was  a  grade 
regularly  known  by  the  name  of  "  Extra  Common."  It  was  made  of  finer 


1 50  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

yarn,  cleaner  wool,  better  dyes,  and  greater  variety  of  designs  than  the 
"  common."  The  sizes  varied  from  saddle-blankets  to  the  largest  products 
of  the  loom.  Today,  however,  these  are  mainly  graded  as  "Standard," 
and  comprise  the  general  run  of  ordinary  Navaho  blankets.  In  this  grade 
will  be  found  every  color  of  the  rainbow  (though  the  less  harmonious 
pieces  are  rapidly  disappearing),  the  coarser  of  the  outline  blankets,  and 
the  coarser  of  the  native  grays,  blacks,  whites,  and  browns.  These  are 
literally  turned  out  by  the  hundreds,  though,  as  knowledge  increases,  and 
purchasers  are  willing  to  pay  a  trifle  more  per  blanket,  the  demand  for 
the  better  quality  blankets  will  cause  the  supply  of  this  grade  to  diminish. 
At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  Navaho  weavers  are  not 
alike.  There  are  the  shiftless  and  the  indifferent  among  them  just  as  there 
are  among  the  whites,  and  so  long  as  a  weaver  knows  that  she  can  take 
even  an  indifferently  woven  blanket  to  the  trader  and  get  enough  for  it 
to  buy  flour,  baking-powder,  coffee,  and  sugar  to  last  for  a  month  or  two, 
she  will  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  improving  the  quality  of  her  work. 

Fig.  213  is  of  a  size  rather  smaller  than  what  might  be  regarded  as 
an  ordinary  standard  size.  It  is  46x75^  inches,  with  body  color  of  gray, 
and  the  triangular  designs  in  red,  white,  and  black,  the  red  being  inside. 
The  border  at  each  end  is  gray,  white,  and  black. 

Fig.  214  is  48x79  inches  in  size,  with  a  dark  gray  body.  The  border, 
however,  is  red,  two  and  a  half  inches  wide  on  the  sides,  and  three  and  a 
half  inches  at  each  end.  The  designs  throughout  are  in  black  and  white, 
save  in  the  center,  and  the  four  diamonds  nearest  to  the  center,  where 
there  is  an  inner  touch  of  red.  Fig.  215  is  of  about  the  same  size,  with  a 
gray  body,  the  designs  being  in  gray,  white,  and  a  little  red. 

These  are  typical  specimens,  although  as  elsewhere  explained,  the 
sizes  vary  from  saddle-blanket  size  to  twelve  or  more  feet  square,  and 
the  designs  are  as  many  and  varied  as  there  are  blankets. 

A  rather  unique  and  pleasing  blanket  of  the  standard  class  is  one 
made  expressly  for  me  as  a  gift  by  the  widow  of  the  last  great  warrior 
chief  of  the  Navahos,  Manuelito.  The  dear  old  lady  and  I  became  great 
friends.  I  made  many  excellent  photographs  of  her,  one  of  which  is 
reproduced  in  Fig.  152,  and  some  months  after  my  leave-taking  and  return 
home,  I  received  the  blanket  shown  in  Fig.  216,  with  a  message  of  appre- 
ciation and  affection.  The  blanket  is  closely  woven,  though  of  heavy  yarn. 
The  body  is  white;  the  Greek  border  in  gray,  outlined  in  black,  while  the 
center  figure  is  of  maroon,  outlined  or  bordered  with  green,  orange,  blue, 
and  lemon  yellow.  While  these  colors  —  to  read  about  them  —  may  not 
seem  to  harmonize,  the  blanket  itself  is  pleasing  to  most  eyes,  and,  any- 
how, color  harmony  is  largely  a  matter  of  individualistic  taste. 

Of  this  standard  type  is  Fig.  217.     This  is  about  38x76  inches  in 


i_  u. 


FIG.  203. 
Blanket  with  Sacred  Symbols. 

(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 
Designed  and  woven  by  Dug-gau-eth-lun   Bi-dazhie.  [PAGE  142] 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  151 

size,  with  a  red  body,  with  the  central  diamond,  and  the  centers  of  the 
two  end  figures  in  gray.  Gray  and  black  also  appear  in  the  borders. 

Occasionally  a  blanket  similar  to  Fig.  218  will  be  found  in  this 
class,  5x7^  feet  or  thereabouts  in  size.  There  is  no  certainty,  however, 
that  blankets  of  standard  quality  will  be  found  like  this,  as  most  of  the 
weavers  now  seek,  when  they  make  a  blanket  as  large  and  well  designed 
as  this,  to  have  it  so  good  that  it  is  immediately  recognized  as  of  the  extra 
standard  quality. 

Fig.  219  is  an  excellent  standard  blanket,  with  gray  body,  and  red 
interior  design  picked  out  in  white.  Its  size  is  about  5x7  feet,  and  the 
design  is  peculiarly  striking  and  forceful.  It  was  made  by  Hastin  Deet-si 
Be  Ahd,  who  is  very  proud  of  it,  and  who  occasionally  makes  up  a  similar 
blanket  in  native  wools,  undyed. 

Fig.  220  is  a  standard  quality  blanket,  in  my  own  collection,  which 
I  bought  some  years  ago.  It  is  saddle  size,  viz.,  30x45  inches,  body  in 
red,  the  design  down  the  center  in  black  and  brown,  although  in  the  illus- 
tration the  brown  is  scarcely  distinguishable.  The  zigzag  outlines  on  the 
side  set  off  portions  of  diamonds  in  violet,  brown,  and  black,  while  the 
two  striking  white  designs  on  each  side  are  joined  to  a  light  blue  design 
of  equal  size,  which  the  photograph  fails  to  reveal. 

Two  standard  blankets  of  saddle  size,  both  of  which,  however,  were 
being  worn  by  children  when  he  secured  them,  are  in  the  Matthews  col- 
lection. These  are  Figs.  221  and  222,  and  the  designs  of  both  are  effec- 
tive and  pleasing,  especially  as  they  are  of  a  better  quality  than  ordinarily 
found  in  saddle-blankets.  In  commenting  on  the  border  in  Fig.  222,  Dr. 
Matthews  says  such  regular  border  of  uniform  device  all  the  way  around 
is  a  very  rare  thing. 

This  may  have  been  so  in  the  Doctor's  day,  but,  as  many  illustrations 
in  this  book  show,  the  weavers  have  made  it  now  quite  a  familiar  sight. 

///.  Native  Wools,  Undyed 

The  undyed  native  wools  are  those  that  come  naturally  from  the 
sheep.  They  are  whites,  blacks,  browns,  and  grays,  the  last  being  either 
a  natural  growth  (of  which  there  is  comparatively  a  small  shearing),  or 
made  by  a  judicious  admixture  of  black  and  white  while  spinning  the  yarn. 
The  demand  for  this  class  of  blanket,  when  the  design  is  good,  has  been 
a  steadily  growing  one,  as  the  public  taste  has  been  cultivated  during  the 
past  ten  to  fifteen  years.  I  well  remember  when  I  used  to  buy  a  fine 
quality  of  this  type  at  a  less  price  than  that  now  charged  for  "  standards." 
Indeed,  there  was  comparatively  small  call  for  them.  Those  bought  in 
the  earlier  days  were  urged  upon  the  taste  of  the  critical  for  use  in  bed- 


1 52  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

rooms,  or  other  places  where  quiet  shades  were  desirable,  and  a  ready 
market  was  soon  found  for  all  that  could  be  procured.  Slowly,  then  more 
rapidly,  they  grew  in  favor,  until  now  many  weavers  spend  their  whole 
time  in  making  them. 

This  type  as  a  rule,  is  made  from  wool  that  has  no  acquaintance 
whatever  with  dye.  The  sheep  of  the  Navaho  grow  wool  that  is  black, 
white,  gray,  and  brown.  There  are  some  black  and  brown  native  wools, 
however,  that  are  not  pronounced  enough  to  be  pleasing,  and  in  such  cases 
the  wool  is  cleaned,  carded,  spun,  and  dyed — that  is,  the  black  is  put  into 
black  dye  to  make  its  blackness  uniform,  and  the  same  is  done  with 

the  brown. 

In  many  cases  the  gray  of  a  gray  blanket  is  made  by  carefully  carding 
together  black  and  white  wool.  When  this  is  properly  done  a  pleasing 
gray  is  the  result,  but  the  most  desirable  gray  is  that  which  comes  from  a 
special  breed  of  sheep  and  is  silver  gray  of  itself.  This  is  a  glossy  wool, 
of  a  bright  and  attractive  gray,  and  blankets  made  from  it,  with  due  intro- 
duction of  design  or  outline  in  black,  white,  or  brown,  are  eagerly  sought 
after.  They,  however,  are  generally  extra  well  woven,  so  come  into  the 
class  called  "  extras." 

Figs.  223-227  and  39  are  all  of  native  wool,  undyed,  but  the  five 
latter  are  so  well  woven  and  of  such  excellent  and  pleasing  design  that 
they  would  immediately  be  graded  as  "Extras"  of  this  type. 

Fig.  227  is  one  of  the  modern  blankets  of  this  type  made  by  the 
best  weavers  on  the  reservation  of  today,  and  is  one  of  the  many  found 
in  the  Fred  Harvey  collection.  The  body  of  the  blanket  is  gray  with 
alternate  rows  of  diamonds  extending  across  the  blanket.  The  first  row 
has  one  center  diamond,  with  a  half-diamond  on  each  side,  the  outer  line 
of  the  figure  being  in  black.  The  second  row  comprises  two  complete 
diamonds,  the  outer  line  being  in  white.  They  thus  alternate  from  bottom 
to  top. 

Blankets  of  this  kind  are  especially  adapted  to  be  used  as  rugs  in 
dining-rooms,  bedrooms,  sitting-rooms,  or  porches,  and  are  capable  of 
enduring  the  roughest  kind  of  wear. 

A  peculiarly  attractive  blanket  that  contains  a  great  deal  of  native 
wool,  undyed,  is  shown  in  Fig.  228.  The  body  color  is  of  natural  brown, 
carefully  cleaned,  deodorized,  and  spun.  It  was  designed  and  woven  by 
Chas-cin-ni-bit-See,  and  is  60x90  inches  in  size.  Like  the  native  silver 
gray,  this  pure  brown  is  rather  rare,  and  blankets  made  from  it  are  to  be 
prized,  especially  if  the  designs  are  artistic  and  pleasing.  In  this  case 
the  red  and  blue  of  the  design  are  of  dyed  yarn,  but  where  black  and 
gray  are  introduced  with  the  brown  the  color  effect  is  even  more  pleasing 
than  with  the  red  and  blue. 


FIG.  206. 
Blanket  with  Large  but  Pleasing  Design. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  153 

A  little  native  brown  is  introduced  into  Fig.  227.  This  is  58x113 
inches  in  size,  and  each  of  the  diamonds  has  one  of  its  panels  in  brown. 
This  is  a  blanket  secured  on  the  reservation  in  the  winter  of  1912-13, 
and  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  modern  weave  I  have  ever  seen. 
While  not  so  fine  as  the  oldtime  bayetas,  it  is  equally  well  woven  and  is  a 
splendid  specimen  of  the  weaver's  art,  though  the  design  is  neither  so 
striking  nor  individualistic  as  many  others  herein  pictured. 

IV.  Extras:  Outline,  Standard,  or  Native  Wools,  Undyed 

Naturally,  certain  weavers  excel  no  matter  what  form  of  work  they 
produce  from  their  looms.  When  such  specimens  of  excellence  are 
brought  to  the  traders  they  grade  them  as  of  "  extra  "  quality  and  charge 
an  extra  price  for  them.  The  determining  points  of  "extras"  are  wool- 
warp,  fineness  of  woof-warp,  good  color,  excellence  of  design,  harmony 
of  color  and  design,  and  general  superiority  and  fineness  of  weave. 

This  is  the  class  of  blanket  of  which  Fred  Harvey  makes  a  specialty. 
He  keeps  no  cheaper  grades.  His  weavers  are  constantly  urged  on  to  the 
production  of  "extras."  This,  and  even  better  qualities,  are  the  only 
types  he  recommends  or  guarantees,  and  on  blankets  of  this  character  he 
is  ready  to  give  the  most  comprehensive  guarantees. 

J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.  have  also  gained  a  reputation  for  this  class 
of  blankets,  though  they  announce  that  they  keep  the  ordinary  standard 
grades  at  a  lower  price. 

Fig.  229  shows  one  of  especially  fine  effect,  designed  and  made  by 
Hastin  Dug-agh-eth-lun  Be-Ahd.  It  is  about  52x84  inches  in  size,  and 
is  in  gray,  white,  and  black.  Blankets  of  this  type  are  made  by  the  same 
weaver  in  sizes  ranging  from  45x76  inches  up  to  6x9  feet.  Occasionally 
she  will  introduce  a  trifle  of  color  into  the  border,  or  interior  figures,  but, 
as  a  rule,  she  prefers  to  stick  to  the  native  undyed  wools. 

Of  equal  quality  and  even  more  striking  in  design  is  Fig.  230, 
designed  and  woven  by  Bi-leen  Al-pi-Bi-zha-Ahd.  This  woman  has  never 
been  known  either  to  copy  the  design  of  another  weaver  or  to  repeat  one 
of  her  own.  Every  blanket  must  be  an  original.  She  is  of  an  essentially 
artistic  temperament,  and  has  the  creative  instinct  developed  to  a  high 
degree.  In  this  blanket  the  native  brown  is  introduced  with  pleasing 
effect.  This  is  75x115  inches  in  size.  A  blanket  of  this  size  and  type  is 
worth,  according  to  quality  and  fineness  of  weave,  from  $60  to  $150. 

It  is  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  know  a  weaver  of  this  woman's 
natural  aptitude.  If  she  can  be  found  alone  and  induced  to  speak  freely 
she  converses  interestingly  and  fluently  of  the  influences  that  determine 
the  designs  of  her  blankets  and  the  reasons  she  will  never  duplicate  them. 


I54  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

In  effect  she  says  that  if  she  duplicates,  the  voices  of  " Those  Above" 
will  no  longer  inspire  her  to  make  new  designs.  In  other  words,  she 
must  trust  the  gods  to  supply  her  artistic  needs  and  ever  be  in  the  receptive 
condition  to  take  in  what  they  send. 

Occasionally  blankets  of  these  sizes  and  similar  designs  are  brought 
in  to  the  traders  of  the  standard  class,  then  the  prices  are  correspondingly 
lower. 

Very  popular  both  in  design  and  color  is  Fig.  231,  which  originated 
from  the  busy  brain  and  fingers  of  Bi-leen  Alpi  Bi-zha  Ahd.  The  soft  gray 
of  the  body  and  border,  with  the  white  panel  picked  out  in  a  small  design 
of  red,  white,  and  black,  makes  an  effective  and  pleasing  combination. 
The  size  of  the  original  is  56x86  inches,  but  it  is  made  to  order  in  extra 
grades  from  45x76  inches  up  to  6x9  feet,  and  is  often  kept  in  stock  in  some 
of  those  sizes.  While  originally  made  in  the  standard  quality,  it  is  seldom 
found  in  that  grade,  though  occasionally  one  is  brought  in  of  similar 
though  not  exact  duplicate  pattern  in  that  quality. 

The  same  weaver  also  designed  Fig.  232.  This  is  5x7^/2  feet  in 
size,  in  which  grays,  blacks  (or  deep  blues),  browns,  and  reds  are  skilfully 
commingled  in  a  daring  design.  She  has  also  woven  the  same  design  in 
red,  white,  and  black.  These  are  made  to  order  in  the  extra  class,  in  any 
colors  required  and  in  any  of  the  standard  sizes. 

Fig.  218  is  of  an  extra  quality  blanket.  This  was  designed  by 
Meh-li-to  Be  Day-zhie  and  is  5x7^  feet  in  size.  The  major  portion  of 
the  body  is  red,  with  white,  black,  and  blue,  or  gray  in  the  design.  This 
is  one  of  the  stock  designs  of  the  Manning  Company,  and  can  be  made 
up  in  any  color,  such  as  gray,  white,  and  black,  when  it  would  be  classed 
as  a  native  wool,  undyed,  of  the  extra  quality.  The  sizes,  too,  vary,  and 
are  often  found  "in  stock,"  as,  for  instance,  45x76  inches  up  to  65x96 
inches. 

Fig.  219  shows  a  striking  and  original  blanket,  which,  while  classed 
as  standard,  is  often  made  up  in  extra  grades,  of  sizes  from  48x72  inches 
up  to  6x8  feet  or  more.  This  was  designed  by  Hastin  Deet-si  Be-Ahd, 
and  has  been  so  popular  that  she  has  been  kept  weaving  on  similar 
blankets  ever  since  to  meet  the  demand. 

Similarly  Fig.  233,  while  occasionally  found  in  the  standard  class, 
is  regularly  made  up  in  a  variety  of  sizes  from  about  48x72  inches  up  to 
6x8  feet  in  extra  qualities,  either  in  native  wools,  undyed,  or  in  standard 
colors. 

Fig.  234  is  an  extra  grade,  designed  and  woven  by  Yeh-del-spah  Bi- 
mah,  size  64x85  inches.  The  body  color  is  gray,  with  a  panel  of  red 
all  around,  in  which  the  designs  are  worked  out  in  white  and  black,  while 
the  inner  panel  is  in  white,  red,  and  black. 


FIG.  207. 

Navaho  Weaver,  Showing  "  Bungling  "  in  Weave  on 

Left-Hand  Side.  [PAGE  145] 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  155 

Equally  original  is  Fig.  235,  designed  and  made  by  Bit-se  Bi-Ghay 
Bit-Se,  size  64x84  inches,  with  a  body  mainly  of  red.  The  black  and 
white,  or  deep  blue  and  white,  make  striking  and  effective  contrasts. 

Figs.  234  and  235  can  both  be  made  to  order,  in  any  color  and  size, 
from  45x76  inches  up  to  6x9  feet. 

To  those  who  enjoy  the  full  flood  of  "sunshine  red"  Fig.  236  will 
especially  appeal.  It  was  designed  and  made  by  Toh-dichin-e  Bi-Ahd, 
and  is  64x98  inches  in  size.  The  red  picked  out  in  light  gray,  with  the 
inner  panel  in  white,  with  design  in  black,  or  deep  blue,  with  slight  dashes 
of  red,  make  striking  contrasts,  and  one  must  know  definitely  where  such 
a  colored  blanket  will  "fit"  or  it  will  strike  a  discordant  note.  But  on  a 
light  wood  floor,  with  no  other  deep  color  note  to  conflict  with  it,  such  a 
blanket  would  light  up  and  warm  a  room  with  a  glow  such  as  covers  the 
earth  at  sunset.  The  weaver  who  made  this  is  ready  to  make  others 
similar  to  this,  in  the  same  or  different  colors  and  of  sizes  varying  from 
45x76  inches  up  to  6x9  feet. 

V.  Native  Wool,  Fancy 

There  is,  however,  another  fine  and  distinctive  grade,  known  as 
Native  wool,  Fancy  blankets.  It  used  to  be  well  known  in  the  trade  and 
included  all  the  very  fine  native  wool  blankets  as  differentiated  from  those 
made  of  Germantown  yarn. 

The  same  tests  are  put  to  this  type  as  to  the  "  extra  "  qualities,  only 
carried  to  a  still  finer  point.  Such  blankets  are  exceedingly  desirable  and 
when  found  fully  justify  the  words  of  Father  Berard,  elsewhere  quoted, 
to  the  effect  that  the  Navahos  of  today  are  making  just  as  fine  blankets 
as  they  have  ever  done. 

Some  of  the  finest  of  these  blankets  are  made  by  men,  more  to  show 
what  they  can  do,  perhaps,  than  for  sale  purposes.  Several  of  those  I 
have  secured  have  been  of  this  class,  and,  tell  it  not  in  Gath!  others  were 
woven  by  maidens  for  the  young  men  of  their  choice,  to  use  as  saddle- 
blankets,  and  were  disposed  of  when  the  flames  of  affection  had  burned 
low,  or  some  other  flame  had  taken  the  place  of  the  "light  that  had 
failed,"  or  gone  out.  Practically  all  of  these  are  single  size  saddle- 
blankets,  viz.,  15x24,  21x24,  and  17x22  inches,  thus  demonstrating  how 
individualistic  is  the  taste  in  size,  as  well  as  design  and  color,  of  the 
weavers  even  in  those  blankets  that  are  to  be  used  for  a  common  purpose. 

Fig.  237  is  of  the  choicest  specimen  of  this  type  in  my  own  collection. 
It  is  21x25  inches  in  size,  and  is  used  as  a  table-cover.  The  panels  of 
small  lozenges  or  diamonds  are  daintily  done.  The  main  color  is  red, 
while  different  colors  are  used  in  the  fourfold  portions  of  which  the 
diamonds  are  composed. 


156  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Fig.  238  is  of  almost  as  fine  yarn,  spinning,  and  design.  It  is  15x24 
inches  in  size,  of  closely  spun  red,  with  unusual  figures  combined  with  those 
that  are  more  common.  The  fringe  and  tassels  at  the  ends  are  extra 
elaborate.  Well  do  I  remember  the  place  and  occasion  on  which  I  pur- 
chased this.  I  had  been  to  little  visited  portions  of  the  reservation,  around 
the  dreaded  Navaho  Mountain,  where  renegades  of  several  races  and 
tribes  are  said  to  congregate,  and  where  some  wonderful  cliff  dwellings 
are  found,  and  was  now  crossing,  on  horseback,  alone,  to  Shiprock,  on 
the  northeastern  border  of  the  reservation.  My  mount  was  not  of  the 
best,  and  could  not  be  urged  beyond  a  limited  speed,  the  roads  were  some- 
what uncertain,  and  late  afternoon  found  me  at  the  Cornfields,  where  sev- 
eral families  had  built  their  hogans,  in  the  midst  of  a  fairly  large  area  of 
cultivated  land.  I  had  no  blankets  or  bedding  of  any  kind,  but  the  hos- 
pitality of  a  rude  hogan  was  preferable  to  nothing.  The  nights  were 
exceedingly  cold  and  frosty,  so  I  intimated  that  I  should  be  glad  to  remain. 
There  were  families  of  two  generations,  with  grandpa  and  grandma,  to 
occupy  the  hogan,  and  only  enough  blankets  to  go  around.  But  I  was 
supplied  with  a  sheepskin  to  lie  on,  and  with  my  overcoat  wrapped  around 
me  and  a  small  saddle-blanket  I  endeavored  to  be  content.  We  were 
stretched  out  with  feet  towards  the  fire,  but  I  kept  up  a  fairly  constant 
roll  all  night,  warming  first  one  side  and  then  the  other,  as  the  temperature 
declined.  The  roof  of  the  hogan  was  partially  open,  though  a  blanket 
was  hung  over  the  doorway.  During  the  night  the  head  of  the  family 
did  a  most  gracious  thing.  He  arose  and  took  down  this  doorway  blanket, 
and,  assuming  that  I  was  asleep,  carefully  and  gently  spread  it  over  me, 
tucking  it  around  me  so  that  I  might  secure  its  full  benefit.  That  blanket 
secured  me  several  hours'  extra  sleep,  for  in  its  warmth  I  was  able  to  defy 
the  cold.  Early  the  next  morning  his  son  brought  me  the  blanket  pictured 
(Fig.  238),  and,  as  they  would  take  no  money  for  my  "lodging,"  I  was 
glad  to  purchase  and  pay  extra  well  for  this  dainty  little  piece  of  weaving. 

Fig.  239  is  of  a  less  fine  and  striking  quality  of  weave,  yet  one  which 
would  properly  come  within  this  class.  It  was  made  by  a  Navaho  maiden 
for  her  lover,  who  for  some  reason  or  other  jilted  her,  and  then  was 
willing  to  sell  me  the  blanket. 

Fig.  240  is  a  native  wool,  fancy  blanket  in  the  Matthews  collection. 
When  secured  by  Dr.  Matthews  it  was  being  worn  by  a  woman.  Its  size 
is  5  feet  4  inches  by  3  feet  7  inches,  and  its  colors  are  yellow,  green,  dark 
blue,  gray,  and  red,  all  but  the  latter  color  being  in  native  yarn. 

Fig.  241  is  one  of  the  best  representatives  of  the  earlier  type  of  native 
wool  dyed  blankets  made  by  the  Navahos  prior  to  the  deterioration  of  the 
art.  It  is  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.  The  body  of 
the  blanket  is  red,  and  the  wool  used  is  of  several  different  dyes,  which  is 


FIG.  210. 

A    Closely   Woven    Blanket,    Practically 
Waterproof. 

(Matthews  Collection.) 


FlG.   211. 

Good  for  Rough  Use. 

(Matthews   Collection.) 


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CLASSIFICATION  OF  MODERN  BLANKETS  157 

evident  from  the  variations  of  tone  to  which  time  has  softened  the  original 
color.  The  general  effect  is  a  delicious  soft  old  rose.  The  three  inner 
diamonds  of  each  design  are  all  in  black,  followed  by  a  fourth  in  white, 
which  produces  a  bold  and  striking,  yet  pleasing  effect.  The  zigzags,  top 
and  bottom,  are  in  white  and  black. 

Fig.  196  is  a  typical  specimen  of  a  first-class  native  wool  fancy 
blanket,  modern  in  weave  throughout,  but  of  old  design.  The  body  of  the 
blanket  is  gray,  the  center  diamonds  are  of  red  outlined  in  brown,  white, 
and  black.  The  stepped  figures  surrounding  the  center  diamonds  are  in 
black  and  white,  while  the  conventional  stepped  diamonds  of  the  center 
are  outlined  in  black,  brown,  and  white.  The  border  is  of  white,  sur- 
rounded with  black.  Blankets  as  good  as  this  are  often  woven  by  Fred 
Harvey's  best  weavers. 

VI.     Germantowns 

These,  as  the  name  implies,  are  Navaho  blankets  made  throughout 
of  Germantown  yarn.  In  the  chapter  on  the  development  of  the  art  I 
have  already  referred  to  the  introduction  of  Germantown  yarn,  and  how, 
for  a  time,  it  led  to  the  deterioration  of  blanketry.  "Haste  to  get  returns" 
became  the  cry  of  both  Navaho  weaver  and  trader,  regardless  of  quality 
and  durability.  The  weaver  was  glad  to  get  rid  of  the  trouble  of  clean- 
ing, carding,  washing,  dyeing,  and  spinning  the  yarn,  when  she  could 
secure  it  from  the  trader  all  ready  to  be  woven.  And  so  cotton-warp, 
Germantown-woof  blankets  for  a  time  had  a  great  run.  Then,  as  sud- 
denly as  the  trade  had  grown,  there  came  a  slump,  and  trader  and  weaver 
meaningly  asked:  "Why?"  The  answer  was  not  far  to  seek  in  the 
angry  cry  of  purchasers,  dinged  into  the  ears  of  blanket  sellers,  and  by 
them  echoed  to  the  traders:  "We  thought  we  were  buying  good  blankets. 
We  find  we  have  almost  thrown  our  money  away."  This  speedily  led  to  a 
change,  and  today  only  the  smallest  and  lightest  "  Germantowns "  are 
made  with  a  cotton  warp,  while  all  the  larger  ones  handled  by  reputable 
dealers  have  wool  warps,  and  are  woven  both  with  care  and  skill. 

Fig.  193  is  of  a  very  fine  blanket  of  this  type  which  I  purchased  over 
twelve  years  ago.  It  has  been  in  constant  and  rough  use  ever  since.  While 
it  has  a  cotton  warp,  it  is  an  extra  strong  one,  and  is  so  carefully  woven 
that  it  is  in  good  condition.  The  body  of  the  blanket  is  in  red,  the  lozenge 
figure  in  the  center  in  white,  blue,  white,  and  maroon,  with  the  very  deli- 
cate outline  in  white.  The  upper  and  lower  diamonds,  with  the  serrated 
edges,  or  really  outlines,  are  in  red,  with  a  blue  border  inside  and  a  maroon 
border  outside  the  dainty  serrated  line,  which  is  in  white.  From  top  to 
bottom  on  each  side  are  two  rows  of  alkidot'ezh,  or  triangles  placed  one 


i58  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

above  another,  touching.  The  outer  rows  are  in  green,  while  the  inner 
rows  are  in  orange  brown.  These  latter  scarcely  show  in  the  reproduction. 

Fig.  132  is  of  a  Germantown  yarn  blanket  which  used  to  be  in  Dr. 
Matthews's  private  collection.  He  described  it  as  follows:  "This  blanket 
measures  6  feet  9  inches  by  5  feet  6  inches,  and  weighs  nearly  six  pounds. 
It  is  made  entirely  of  Germantown  yarn  in  seven  strongly  contrasting 
colors,  and  is  the  work  of  a  man  who  is  generally  conceded  to  be  the  best 
weaver  in  the  tribe.  A  month  was  spent  in  its  manufacture.  Its  figures 
are  mostly  in  serrated  stripes,  which  are  the  most  difficult  to  execute  with 
regularity.  I  have  heard  that  the  man  who  wove  this  often  draws  his 
designs  on  sand  before  he  begins  to  work  them  on  the  loom." 

This  is  the  only  case  in  which  I  have  ever  heard  of  a  weaver  making 
a  design  in  the  sand,  or  otherwise.  In  my  many  years  of  familiarity  with 
the  Navahos,  and  varied  wanderings  over  the  whole  of  their  reservation, 
my  constant  inquiry  has  failed  to  find  me  one  weaver  who  has  ever 
followed  this  practice,  or  known  of  anyone  doing  so. 

Figs.  242  and  243  are  of  two  single  saddle-blankets  made  with 
Germantown  yarn.  Fig.  242  is  fairly  well  woven  and  with  a  good  color 
scheme.  The  design  is  familiar  and  frequently  found,  and  lends  itself 
to  as  varied  a  color  harmony  as  there  are  bands.  This  comprises  white, 
deep  blue,  cherry-red,  salmon-pink,  and  deep  green,  and  they  are  com- 
bined with  a  keen  eye  to  color  effect.  The  size  is  17^x23  inches,  with 
fringes  at  both  ends  fully  two  inches  long. 

Fig.  243  has  a  red  body  color,  is  20x24  inches  in  size,  and  is  com- 
pletely surrounded  with  a  so-called  Greek-key  border,  which  Dr.  Mat- 
thews claimed  was  exceedingly  rare  in  the  eighties  of  the  past  century. 
The  key  is  in  green,  with  an  orange  insert;  the  geometrical  figures  on  each 
side  are  in  black,  yellow,  and  green ;  while  those  of  the  center  row  are  in 
black,  yellow,  green,  and  gray.  The  blanket  has  a  four-inch  fringe  at 
each  end,  with  double  tassels  at  one  corner  of  each  end. 


0 


FIG.  216. 
Made  by  Manuelito's  Widow  for  the  Author. 


[PAGE  150] 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Imitation  Navaho  Blankets 

'IPHERE  is  an  impression  abroad,  quite  widespread,  that  there  are 
many  so-called  Navaho  blankets  which  are  machine-made.  To  those 
who  are  familiar  with  the  subject  this  impression  is  absurd.  He  would 
be  credulous,  indeed,  who,  knowing  a  real  Navaho  blanket,  could  ever 
imagine  one  made  on  a  machine.  The  thing  is  impossible.  A  so-called 
machine-made  Navaho  blanket  can  be  discerned  by  the  knowing  a  hun- 
dred feet  away.  And  writers  who  ought  to  know  better — or  else  they 
should  not  be  allowed  to  publish  what  they  write  in  high-class  papers  and 
magazines  —  often  assert  the  most  foolish  things.  For  instance,  in  The 
Saturday  Evening  Post  for  June  25,  1911,  a  contributor  thus  writes 
under  the  title,  "  Faking  the  Antiques."  About  some  of  the  things  of 
which  the  article  speaks  I  am  not  competent  to  offer  an  opinion,  but  in 
regard  to  Navaho  blankets  I  know  whereof  I  speak,  with  the  knowledge 
gained  by  thirty-two  years  of  personal  and  intimate  experience  and  study. 
He  says: 

In  the  curio  dealer  of  the  western  part  of  the  United  States  the  fellah  who  sells 
fake  scarabs  has  no  mean  rival.  Ninety  per  cent  of  the  Indian  moccasins,  blankets, 
and  baskets  sold  in  western  souvenir  shops  are  the  machine-made  output  of  a  thriv- 
ing factory  that  employs  not  only  "squaws,"  who  are  nimble-fingered  girls,  but  a 
dozen  salesmen,  who  travel  from  Seattle  to  Key  West,  from  Los  Angeles  to  Bangor. 
Real  Indian  craftsmanship  finds  it  so  hard  to  compete  that  beading  and  blanket  weav- 
ing of  the  old  kind  will  soon  be  a  lost  art.  In  the  very  heart  of  the  Indian  country 
—  at  Flagstaff,  Cheyenne,  Albuquerque,  and  Bismarck  —  the  curio  stores  are  packed 
with  Indian  wares  that  no  Indian  ever  touched.  Even  if  you  distrust  the  shops  and 
decide  to  buy  only  from  an  Indian,  you  may  be  bitten.  A  crafty  buck  struts  along  the 
street  in  Albuquerque  with  a  gorgeous  blanket  carelessly  flung  over  his  shoulders. 

"  How  much?"  you  ask,  fingering  the  thing  with  greedy  digits. 

"Thirty  dollars,"  he  answers,  with  an  appraising  glance  at  your  scarfpin,  your 
shoes,  and  other  indices  of  your  prosperity. 

You  pay.  It  is  more  than  you  expected;  but,  at  least,  the  blanket  is  genuine. 
Six  months  later  you  learn  that  your  blanket  was  made  in  a  factory  and  that  your 
Indian  warrior  probably  divided  his  gains  with  a  white  employer. 

In  the  main  this  charge  is  not  in  accordance  with  facts.  It  may 
be  true  that  ninety  per  cent  of  the  "  Indian  moccasins  that  are  sold  in 
western  souvenir  shops  are  the  machine-made  output  of  a  thriving  factory 
that  employs  *  squaws '  who  are  nimble-fingered  girls,"  but  there  is  not 

159 


i6o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  slightest  particle  of  truth  in  the  statement  that  ninety  per  cent  of  the 
Indian  blankets  and  baskets  so  sold  are  the  product  of  anything  but 
Indian  fingers.  I  am  personally  familiar  with  every  Indian  trader  on  the 
Navaho  Reservation;  I  know  all  the  wholesale  dealers  in  Indian  blankets 
that  are  secured  from  the  Navahos,  and  I  personally  know  ninety  per  cent 
of  the  Indian  curio  dealers  of  the  Southwest  and  all  those  of  Los  Angeles, 
Flagstaff,  and  Albuquerque.  Of  Cheyenne  and  Bismarck  I  am  unable  to 
speak.  I  venture  the  assertion  that  it  is  not  possible  to  find  in  all  the 
stores  in  all  the  centers  I  have  named  one  basket,  professedly  made  by  an 
Indian,  which  is  made  by  a  white  person,  and  the  same  can  be  said  of  the 
blankets.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  some  blankets  are  sold  as 
Indian  blankets  which  are  made  by  Mexicans,  and  it  requires  knowledge 
to  differentiate  between  an  Indian  blanket  and  a  Mexican  blanket,  though 
both  are  hand-made  on  primitive  looms. 

As  far  as  the  purchase  of  the  blanket  from  the  back  of  an  Indian  is 
concerned,  for  which  the  author  claims  to  have  paid  thirty  dollars,  the 
deception  in  that  case  was  self-deception  or  ignorance  rather  than  any 
intent  to  deceive  on  the  part  of  the  Indian.  Indians  seldom,  if  ever,  wear 
blankets  of  their  own  manufacture.  They  make  no  pretense  of  wearing 
them.  Their  blankets  are  too  thick,  rough,  and  stiff  for  use  as  personal 
wraps.  They  are  fit  only  for  rugs,  portieres,  or  buggy  robes. 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  prolonged  trip  to  the  Navaho  Reserva- 
tion, and  it  was  a  daily  occurrence  when  I  was  in  the  stores  of  the  Indian 
traders  to  see  Navaho  weavers  bring  their  blankets  and  sell  them  for 
amounts  varying  from  ten  to  sixty  dollars,  part  of  the  proceeds  of  which 
they  immediately  invested  in  the  purchase  of  a  machine-made  blanket. 
This  latter  style  of  blanket,  while  it  possesses  Indian  designs  and  is  made 
in  striking  colors,  is  no  more  intended  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  Indian 
blanket  than  a  chromo  is  intended  to  be  a  deceptive  imitation  of  a  painting 
by  Raphael  or  Corot,  and  he  is  a  self-conceited  ignoramus  who  could 
possibly  be  deceived  by  such  a  blanket. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  when  the  Navaho  found  she  could  sell 
her  blanket  for  enough  to  purchase  a  dozen  American  blankets  she 
promptly  did  so,  for  the  reason  before  stated,  viz.,  that  most  of  her  own 
blankets  are  too  stiff  to  give  warmth  and  comfort  when  wrapped  around 
her.  A  good  three-dollar  comforter  is  worth  half  a  dozen  fifty-dollar 
blankets  as  far  as  comfort  when  lying  down  and  sleeping  is  concerned. 
The  closely-woven  Navaho  will  shed  the  rain  and  keep  out  the  wind,  and 
the  thick,  fuzzy  type  is  good  as  a  mattress,  but  none  familiar  with  Navaho 
blankets  ever  buys  them  for  bed-covers  or  wraps.  As  soon  as  this  fact 
dawned  clearly  upon  Messrs.  Hubbell  and  Cotton,  and  the  C.  H.  Algert 
Company  they  immediately  began  to  negotiate  with  the  blanket  weavers 


FIG.  217. 
Standard  Blanket. 

(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 
Woven  by  Be-leen  Al-pi  Be-gay  Eh-son. 


[PAGE   150] 


IMITATION  NAVAHO  BLANKETS  161 

of  the  East  and  Northwest  for  the  manufacture  of  blankets,  especially 
designed  for  the  Navaho  trade,  containing  those  designs  and  colors  which 
they  knew  would  be  pleasing  to  their  Indian  customers.  They  themselves 
provided  the  designs  —  these  men,  be  it  especially  noted  and  remembered, 
whose  greatest  income  is  from  the  sale  of  genuine  Navaho  blankets,  and 
whose  business  would  suffer  materially  if  the  notion  ever  became  broad- 
cast that  the  real  Navaho  could  be  successfully  imitated.  They  now  pur- 
chase these  blankets  by  the  carload,  and  there  is  not  a  trader  on  or  off  the 
whole  reservation  who  does  not  carry  a  quantity  of  them  in  stock;  but  the 
idea  has  never  entered  their  minds  that  anyone  could  purchase  them  for 
genuine  Navaho  blankets.  No  man  has  a  right  to  slander  and  vilify  an 
honorable  body  of  business  men,  nor  is  he  justified  in  awakening  the 
suspicions  of  the  purchasing  public  in  regard  to  a  staple  article  of  goods 
about  which  only  those  who  have  had  no  opportunity  to  be  informed  can 
be  imposed  upon.  Such  is  my  confidence  in  the  reliable  blanket  dealers  of 
the  Southwest  that  I  will  undertake  to  buy  back  at  the  full  price,  with 
interest,  every  blanket  purchased  from  a  dealer  of  repute  in  his  own  com- 
munity who  knows  Indian  goods,  and  who  has  knowingly  and  wilfully 
deceived  an  ignorant  purchaser  into  buying  a  machine-made  blanket. 

On  this  subject  even  so  careful  an  authority  as  General  U.  S.  Hollis- 
ter,  in  his  The  Navaho  and  Pits  Blanket,  gives  out  misleading  ideas.  He 
says  (the  italics  are  mine)  : 

It  is  frequently  said  that  many  of  the  so-called  Navaho  blankets  are  now  made 
in  eastern  factories,  but  this  is  not  true  to  any  great  extent.  Some  garish  things  in 
attempts  at  Navaho  designs  are  so  made,  but  the  likeness  is  too  poor  to  be  called  even 
an  imitation ;  and  no  dealer  with  the  slightest  sense  of  honor  would  offer  one  of  the 
horrid  things  as  a  Navaho  blanket.  Tourists  have  only  themselves  to  blame  if  they  are 
sometimes  thus  deceived. 

The  error  and  unconscious  mischief  of  this  statement  is  its  implica- 
tion that  to  some  extent  so-called  Navaho  blankets  are  made.  They  are 
not  made  to  any  extent.  There  is  not  one  that  for  a  moment  can 
deceive  anyone  reasonably  familiar  with  the  hand-woven  Navaho  product. 
That  tourists  sometimes  have  themselves  to  blame  for  their  own  deception 
is  true,  as  General  Hollister  thus  remarks,  though,  as  a  rule,  the  only 
blankets  used  by  the  Navahos  today  are  those  especially  woven  for  them. 

The  Navahos  often  prefer  to  wear  blankets  made  in  the  East,  for 
two  reasons:  one  is  that  they  are  lighter;  and  the  other,  that  they  can 
sell  a  good  blanket  of  their  own  make  for  a  sum  sufficient  to  purchase  a 
"  Mackinaw."  Not  long  ago  a  lady  visitor  saw  one  of  these  Mackinaw 
blankets  on  the  back  of  a  Navaho  buck  at  Gallup,  New  Mexico.  She 
immediately  began  negotiations,  and  finally  got  the  blanket  for  about 
three  times  what  it  cost  "poor  Lo,"  and  went  away  rejoicing,  believing 


1 62  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

she  had  a  genuine  Navaho  blanket.  Why?  Because  she  had  bought  it 
from  a  Navaho  Indian!  Incidents  of  this  kind  having  been  repeated 
frequently  have,  no  doubt,  given  rise  to  the  story  and  belief  that  a  large 
proportion  of  what  are  said  to  be  Navaho  blankets  are  not  made  by  the 
Navahos,  but  are  the  products  of  eastern  looms.  Nothing,  however,  can 
be  further  from  the  truth.  A  visit  to  the  establishments  of  all  the  Indian 
traders  in  or  about  the  Navaho  reservation,  or  to  those  in  any  of  the  cities 
of  the  East  or  West  in  which  Navaho  blankets  are  offered  for  sale,  will 
fail  to  find  a  single  blanket  represented  as  of  Navaho  origin  that  was  not 
made  by  the  Navahos  themselves  or  in  similar  style  on  primitive  looms  by 
imitative  Mexicans. 

There  is  another  reason,  however,  which  ought  forever  to  satisfy 
the  intelligent  reader  that  Navaho  blankets  can  never  be  imitated.  As 
is  shown  in  nearly  all  of  the  colored  plates  in  this  book,  the  colors  of  a 
certain  line  of  weave  are  not  alike  all  the  way  across  the  blanket.  There 
may  be  two,  or  three,  six,  a  dozen,  even  twenty  colors  on  one  line  or  row 
of  cross  weave.  And  the  colors  are  alike  on  both  sides.  This  is  possible 
only  in  hand  work,  where  a  weaver  may  take  her  color  as  far  as  she 
chooses,  and  then  substitute  another.  The  following  letter  quoted  by 
General  Hollister  explains  the  limitations  of  machine-weaving  and  satis- 
factorily demonstrates  that  it  can  never  successfully  imitate  the  hand- 
weaving  of  any  people : 

PENDLETON  WOOLEN  MILLS 
Fleece  Wool  Blankets,  Indian  Robes  and  Shawls 

PENDLETON,  OREGON,  June  23,  1902. 

Dear  Sir  —  We  have  your  letter  of  the  iyth  and  also  the  sample  of  the  Navaho. 
We  note  what  you  say  about  blanket  people  saying  this  has  never  been  successfully 
imitated.  It  is  for  a  good  reason.  It  is  impossible  with  any  machine  yet  made  to  get 
this  effect.  On  our  looms  there  are  but  two  shuttle  boxes  on  a  side.  Running  a 
different  shuttle  in  each  box  only  allows  for  four  colors  at.  a  time.  In  this  robe  a 
certain  color  appears  and  then  is  cut  out.  On  a  machine  when  a  color  once  starts 
across  the  beam,  it  must  be  carried  clear  to  the  other  side,  either  on  one  side  or  the 
other.  If  you  lose  it  from  the  upper  side,  it  must  appear  somewhere  on  the  bottom. 
It  is  necessary  for  it  to  go  clear  across  to  be  able  to  return.  In  weaving  by  hand,  one 
can  simply  take  the  shuttle  out  any  place  desired  and  lay  it  aside  until  wanted  again, 
covering  the  end  between  the  filling  threads  and  warp. 

We  can  get  this  diamond  pattern,  however,  if  you  think  it  would  do,  but  cannot 
get  the  effect  nor  the  weave  as  it  appears  in  this  robe.  The  Racine  people  are  making 
a  shawl  something  after  this  pattern,  but  can  use  only  a  limited  number  of  colors,  for 
the  reasons  explained  above. 

We  could  do  this.  We  could  get  something  like  this  pattern  and  then  work  with 
two  colors  for  a  certain  width,  and  then  change  to  two  others,  giving  a  striped  effect. 
For  instance,  we  could  work  with  black  and  yellow,  the  diamond  pattern  appearing 


FIG.  218. 
"  Extra  "  Blanket  of  Good  Design. 

(Courtesy  of  the  C.  C.  Manning  Co.) 

Occasionally  found  in  "  Standard  "  quality. 

Woven  by  Meh-li-to  Be-day-zhie. 


[PAGE   151] 


•    '    *   *J     «r*    "'*"'   '-          '        '        ''' 


IMITATION  NAVAHO  BLANKETS  163 

in  yellow  and  the  background  in  black,  and  then  change  to  green  and  red,  for  a  cer- 
tain width,  and  so  on.    This,  however,  would  not  produce  the  effect  you  are  after. 

On  this  kind  of  a  proposition  we  can  quickly  tell  you  we  cannot  do  anything 
except  go  ahead  and  try  to  get  up  something  that  is  impossible.  If  you  think  a  robe 
something  like  we  have  described  would  sell,  let  us  know  and  we  can  get  out  some, 
but  they  will  be  far,  far  from  the  Navaho  effect. 

Yours  very  truly, 
PENDLETON  WOOLEN  MILLS. 

Further,  to  confirm  my  assertions,  I  again  quote  General  Hollister, 
and  assure  the  reader  that  this  is  the  universal  testimony  of  all  who 
know : 

I  have  traveled  extensively  throughout  our  Southwestern  country,  and  have 
examined  the  stocks  of  nearly  every  Indian  trader  and  dealer  in  Navaho  fabrics;  and 
in  no  instance  has  a  spurious  blanket  or  rug  been  offered  me  as  of  Navaho  make.  I 
have  not  always  agreed  with  the  dealers'  statements  regarding  the  age,  composition, 
or  coloring  of  their  blankets,  but  I  am,  however,  pretty  well  satisfied  that  in  the  main 
they  are  sincere  in  their  representations,  and  place  their  goods  before  their  customers 
with  the  best  knowledge  they  possess.  Some  of  them  have  been  so  long  in  the  business 
that  they  are  authorities  upon  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Pueblo  Indian  Weavers 

WE  have  already  seen  that  the  art  of  weaving  was  known  to  the 
Pueblo  Indians  long  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  into  New 
Mexico  (and  Arizona)  in  1540.  They  were  also  growers  and  weavers 
of  cotton.  In  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  in  New  York, 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  cotton  weaving  taken  from  a  prehistoric  cliff-dwell- 
ing. It  is  from  a  cotton  blanket  that  was  originally  about  three  by  five 
feet  in  size.  It  is  in  colors  and  the  designs  are  similar  to  those  found  on 
the  pottery  of  an  earlier  or  contemporaneous  period. 

In  spite  of  the  oft-made  assertion  that  "the  Pueblos  appear  to  have 
soon  discarded  the  spinning  of  cotton  for  the  easier  spinning  of  wool," 
there  is  plenty  of  evidence  that  they  have  never  discontinued  cotton- 
weaving,  and  they  still  (1914)  make  many  of  their  garments  of  this  mate- 
rial. Every  wedding  dress  of  a  Hopi  maiden  is  of  cotton,  and  I  have  half 
a  dozen  or  more  ceremonial  costumes  of  cotton,  embroidered  with  wool 
of  different  colors  in  striking  designs.  Fig.  34  is  of  a  rare  old  Hopi 
woman's  blanket,  with  a  white  cotton  body  and  a  border  of  deep  blue 
with  stripes  of  white  cotton  and  red  bayeta.  Blankets  of  this  type  are 
very  rare  and  seldom  found,  even  in  the  best  collections.  The  cotton 
weave  is  of  twilled  design  and  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  artistic  work, 
while  the  border  is  in  two  panels,  the  wider  of  which  is  crossed  with 
double  diamonds.  On  the  inner  edge  of  this  panel  are  a  row  of  triangular 
figures  placed  one  upon  another.  The  white  of  the  cotto,n  has  taken  on  a 
rich  creamy  hue,  which  gives  the  blanket  as  a  whole  a  very  pleasing  effect. 

In  practically  all  of  the  various  pueblos  of  the  Rio  Grande,  of  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona,  one  or  more  weavers  can  be  found  who  make 
blankets  that  cannot  be  distinguished  from  those  of  the  Navaho.  At  the 
Hopi  House,  near  El  Tovar,  at  the  Grand  Canyon,  Fred  Harvey  gener- 
ally has  a  Hopi  weaving  Navaho  blankets.  Mrs.  Matilda  Coxe  Steven- 
son, whose  colossal  work  on  the  Zunis  occupies  the  whole  six  hundred 
pages,  with  scores  of  additional  plates,  of  the  Twenty-third  Annual  Report 
of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  states  that: 

m  1881  a  young  boy  about  twelve  years  of  age  became  jealous  over  the  writer's  admira- 
tion for  the  blankets  of  the  Navaho  and  determined  to  see  what  he  could  do.  Going 
to  work  with  no  design  before  him,  he  produced  a  saddle-blanket  of  exceptional  beauty. 

164 


FIG.  219. 
Standard  Blanket. 

(Courtesy  of  the  C.  C.  Manning  Co.) 
Gray  base,  with  design  in  red,  white,  and  black. 


[PAGE   151] 


PUEBLO  INDIAN  WEAVERS  165 

The  elaborate  figures  were  woven  in  various  colors  on  a  red  ground.  In  1902  a  Zuni 
priest  presented  the  writer  with  a  blanket  of  his  own  weaving,  which,  though  not  fine, 
was  elaborate  in  design  and  color.  It  was  made  in  order  to  show  the  writer  that  the 
Zunis  possess  the  art  of  weaving  blankets  in  the  Navaho  style  even  though  they  do  not 
practice  it.  They  prefer  to  purchase  blankets  of  the  more  elaborate  kind  from  the 
Navahos  and  give  their  time  to  other  things. 

During  the  past  twenty  years  since  active  and  open  hostilities  between 
the  Navahos  and  Pueblos  have  terminated  there  has  been  a  commingling 
which  has  somewhat  disturbed  the  old  and  rigid  lines  of  racial  or  tribal 
divergence.  This  has  manifested  itself  in  weaving  as  in  many  other  ways. 
For  instance,  time  was  when  one  familiar  with  the  different  tribes  could 
immediately  point  out  a  Navaho-woven  blanket  from  that  of  a  Hopi, 
Zuni,  or  Acoma,  etc.  But  that  day  has  gone  by.  A  Navaho  woman  weaver 
may  be  found  making  a  dress  in  the  Hopi  weave,  or  a  Hopi  man  weaving 
a  Navaho  blanket.  In  my  collection  I  have  a  squaw-dress  which  was 
woven  by  a  Zuni  man,  but  it  has  none  of  the  characteristics  of  the  twilled 
or  diamond  weaving  so  often  found  in  Pueblo  squaw-dress  weaving. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  simple  Navaho  weave  throughout.  It  is  woven  broad  side 
on.  The  two  plain  striped  portions  are  in  black  and  dark  gray.  The 
center  design  is  in  red,  with  the  crosses  in  orange,  with  a  smaller  cross 
inside  each  in  black.  The  upper  and  lower  stripes  are  in  red,  with  the 
"square-eyed"  design  in  red,  purple,  and  orange. 

Fig.  244  is  of  a  Hopi  weaver  at  Sichomovi,  on  the  first  mesa.  It 
will  be  observed  that,  in  the  main,  this  loom  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Navaho  weavers,  though  the  weaver  is  a  man.  Here,  too,  is  another 
evidence  of  individuality  in  weaving  methods.  This  man,  having  woven 
the  diagonal  portion  of  the  squaw-dress  at  one  end,  turned  the  loom  over 
so  that  he  could  complete  the  diagonal  weaving  of  the  other  end  before 
he  began  the  plain  or  simple  weave  of  the  center  of  the  dress. 

That  this  method,  however,  is  not  uncommon  is  shown  by  Fig.  245, 
which  depicts  a  Hopi  man  weaver  at  the  most  western  of  the  Hopi 
pueblos,  Oraibi. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  sights  is  to  see  a  Hopi  weaving  a 
white  cotton  garment,  full  blanket  size,  from  cotton  of  his  own  growing, 
cleaning,  carding,  and  spinning.  This  is  generally  done  in  the  sanctity  of 
the  kiva,  or  secret  underground  ceremonial  chamber,  because  the  dress, 
when  completed,  is  to  be  worn  by  his  bride  at  the  wedding  ceremony. 
Such  a  blanket  has  no  color  to  it  whatever,  but  is  adorned  with  carefully 
made  and  most  elaborate  cords  and  tassels  at  each  corner.  A  reed  case  is 
also  made  for  carrying  it. 

For  dance  and  other  ceremonial  purposes,  however,  cotton  dresses 
of  this  type  are  beautifully  embroidered  in  black,  green,  and  red,  similar  to 


1 66  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  kilt  shown  in  Fig.  246.     The  Hopis  are  great  adepts  in  this  kind  of 
work. 

Fig.  247  shows  a  member  of  the  Antelope  clan  at  Oraibi  weaving  a 
ceremonial  sash  or  kilt,  which  he  is  to  wear  at  the  forthcoming  Snake 
Dance,  in  the  manner  shown  in  Fig.  248.  This  dance  is  fully  described 
in  my  Indians  of  the  Painted  Desert  Region  and  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able and  astounding  religious  rites  of  the  pagan  world.  The  sash  is  shown 
in  Fig.  246,  with  one  of  the  Pueblo  and  Navaho  belts  worn  around  the 
waists  of  the  women. 


FIG.  220. 
Standard  Quality  Blanket,  Good  Design  and  Color. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


FIG.  221. 
Standard  Blanket,   Saddle   Size. 

(Matthews  Collection.) 


FlG.   222. 

Standard  Blanket. 

(Matthews  Collection.) 


CHAPTER  XXI 

The  Chimayo  Blanket 

TT/'HILE  the  aborigine  of  North  America  was  familiar  with  the  art 
of  weaving  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards,  it  was  much  modi- 
fied and  improved  after  his  advent.  The  Navaho  brought  a  rude  loom 
and  rude  methods  of  work  with  him.  Here  he  found  the  Pueblo  Indian 
and  from  him  learned  much.  Then,  when  the  Spaniard  came,  both  Pueblo 
and  Navaho  had  sheep  added  to  their  possessions,  the  wool  from  which 
practically  changed  the  future  of  the  art  of  weaving  as  far  as  they  were 
concerned. 

The  Spaniards  and  Mexicans  also  brought  with  them  their  weaving 
arts.  Many  of  their  numbers  were  able  to  weave  blankets  and  the  finer 
scrapes.  Hence,  side  by  side,  three  different  types  of  blanket-weaving 
were  carried  on.  These  were,  first,  that  of  the  Pueblos;  second,  that  of 
the  Navahos,  and,  third,  that  of  the  Mexicans.  Almost  every  Mexican 
settlement  had  its  weavers  in  the  early  days  of  their  occupation  of  what 
is  now  United  States  territory,  but  here  and  there  the  art  declined  and 
finally  disappeared,  while  in  other  settlements  but  one  or  two  families 
preserved  their  looms  and  continued  to  use  them.  One  settlement, 

(  Chimayo,  however,  kept  up  its  weaving,  and  has  so  persistently  continued 
in  its  practice  that  Chimayo  blankets  have  become  known  all  over  the 

\  civilized  world,  and  its  older  and  better  types  are  highly  prized  by  col- 
lectors. The  Mexican  settlements  known  as  Chimayo  are  about  thirty 
miles  north  of  Santa  Fe  and  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  Espanola,  a  station 
on  the  narrow-gauge  line  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railway,  which 
runs  from  Santa  Fe  to  Denver,  changing  at  Alamosa,  Colorado,  from  the 
narrow  to  the  broad  gauge. 

It  was  a  sharp,  clear,  snappy  afternoon  in  December,  1912,  when  I 
walked  from  Espanola  to  Santa  Cruz,  two  miles  away,  getting  a  "lift" 
in  a  friendly  buggy  as  I  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  Rio  de  la  Santa  Cruz. 
Chimayo  is  not  a  town  in  the  sense  that  Americans  understand  the 
term.  It  is  the  name  given  to  ten  or  eleven  little  settlements,  stretching 
out  for  six  miles  or  more  along  the  Santa  Cruz  River.  The  name  implies 
"the  meeting  of  the  streams."  Just  above  the  uppermost  settlement  the 
Rio  Cundiyo  and  the  Rio  Chiquito  unite  and  form  the  Santa  Cruz.  The 
dwellers  in  the  Chimayo  settlements  call  it  the  Rio  Chimayo  until  it  reaches 


1 68  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

the  town  of  Santa  Cruz,  when  they  are  then  willing  to  call  it  the  Rio  de  la 
Santa  Cruz  —  a  change  rather  confusing  to  the  ordinary  American  not 
accustomed  to  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  Mexican  mind.  The  settlements 
that  form  Chimayo  are  known  as  follows,  coming  up  the  river  from  west 
to  east — all  are  on  the  north  side  of  the  stream  except  La  Puebla  to  the 
west  and  Potrero  to  the  east — Cuarteles,  so  called  because  a  body  of  Mex- 
ican soldiers  was  once  quartered  there;  La  Puebla;  Plaza  Abajo,  the 
lower  plaza;  Los  Ranchos;  La  Cuchilla,  so-called  because  it  is  located  on  a 
small  hill  with  a  knife-like  ridge;  Plaza  del  Cerro,  the  plaza  of  the  hill 
(this  is  commonly  known  as  Chimayo  on  account  of  its  possessing  the  post- 
office  bearing  that  name)  ;  Rincon,  the  corner  settlement;  Potrero,  "the 
opening" — into  the  canyon  above;  Los  Ojuelos,  the  little  springs;  El 
Llano,  the  plain;  and  Rio  Chiquito,  the  Little  River. 

The  locations  of  the  Chimayo  settlements  were  occupied  by  Indians 
long  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  Spaniards  and  Mexicans.  All  the  way  up 
the  banks  of  the  stream  there  were  small  Indian  rancherias  or  pueblos, 
and  these  people  all  called  themselves  Chimayo.  It  was  in  1714  that  a  few 
Spanish  families  came  and  settled  along  the  river,  and  little  by  little  the 
Indians  disappeared,  or  were  absorbed  by  marriage,  until  now  there  is  not 
a  single  Indian  family  left.  This  also  accounts  for  the  Mexican  names 
given  to  the  different  settlements. 

After  spending  the  night  in  the  parsonage  of  Santa  Cruz,  I  hired  a 
buggy  to  take  me  to  Chimayo  the  next  morning.  The  road  for  the  major 
part  of  the  distance  is  up  the  course  of  the  Rio  Santa  Cruz,  which  at  this 
time  of  the  year  spreads  out  into  two,  three,  or  more  rapidly  flowing 
creeks.  The  road  was  rocky  in  most  places,  sandy,  and  rough.  We  crossed 
the  stream  many  times,  the  separate  channels  being  lined  with  thick  ice. 
In  spring,  when  the  ice  thaws  out,  the  road  is  muddy  in  places,  as 
well  as  sandy  and  rocky;  in  summer,  when  the  rains  and  cloudbursts  come 
one  cannot  venture  to  guess  where  and  what  the  road  is,  for  they  tell  me 
there  is  no  other  way  of  going  back  and  forth,  and  the  stream  spreads  out 
until  all  roads  are  obliterated,  and,  at  times,  the  river  becomes  a  raging 
torrent,  pouring  down  its  flood  with  great  rapidity  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
In  the  fall  it  is  rocky,  muddy,  sandy,  and  rough;  and  winter,  spring,  sum- 
mer, and  winter  it  is  uniformly  hard,  uphill,  and  disagreeable,  except  to 
those  who  choose  to  take  their  daily  exercise  by  being  jolted,  jarred, 
jounced,  and  jiggered  from  one  side  of  the  buggy  or  wagon  to  another, 
up  and  down,  back  and  forth,  and  sometimes  all  directions  in  one  grand 
bounce,  which  jerks  the  head  half  off  the  shoulders,  and  semi-dislocates 
the  spine. 

But  immediately  on  reaching  Plaza  del  Cerro  all  memory  of  the 
discomforts  suffered  disappear.  A  drive  of  two  hours  and  a  half  has 


S?  c 


o 
o 

<U        r* 

II 

^  U 


3 


THE  CHIMAYO  BLANKET  169 

brought  us  to  the  settlement,  snugly  nestled  along  the  foothills,  beyond 
which  snowy-clad  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  tower  into  the  New 
Mexico  sky.  It  is  a  straggling  place,  with  streets  that  remind  one  of  Sam 
Walter  Foss's  poem  of  the  Boston  "Calf  Path,"  in  their  irresponsible 
and  altogether  unsuspected  twinings  and  twistings.  Here  a  large  plaza  is 
surrounded  by  well-built,  thrifty-looking  Mexican  houses.  Though  built 
of  adobe,  and  with  flat  roofs,  most  of  them  are  whitewashed  and  attract- 
ive, and  a  few  glimpses  through  open  doors  as  we  pass  suggest  what  our 
later  observation  confirms,  that  here  is  no  lazy,  indifferent,  drinking, 
gambling  Mexican  settlement,  but  the  home  of  self-respecting,  hard-work- 
ing, thriving,  law-abiding  men  and  women,  who  could  well  set  an  example 
to  many  far  more  pretentious  towns  and  villages  in  our  eastern  states. 

On  every  hand  are  evidences  of  prosperity.  Fruit  orchards  are  found 
in  all  directions.  Apples,  peaches,  plums,  and  cherries  grow  abundantly 
and  of  finest  flavor,  and  a  ready  market  is  found  for  them  in  Santa  Fe, 
Albuquerque,  and  other  points  on  the  Santa  Fe  Railway.  The  plaza  itself 
is  cut  up  into  gardens  belonging  to  those  who  dwell  around  it,  and  in 
spring  and  summer  it  supplies  their  tables  with  a  varied  and  abundant 
supply  of  vegetables,  while  it  charms  the  eye  of  residents  and  visitors 
alike  with  the  riot  of  color  of  its  fragrant  flowers. 

During  the  fruit  and  vegetable  season  the  people  are  fruit  growers 
and  agriculturists,  but  in  winter,  when  the  ground  is  frozen,  they  uncover 
their  looms,  and  in  three-fifths  of  the  houses  the  bump  of  the  batten  and 
the  jerk  of  the  treadle  may  be  heard  as  the  busy  weaver  plies  her  shuttle 
to  and  fro. 

Here  everything  is  different  from  the  methods  followed  by  the 
Navaho.  The  loom,  though  rude  and  roughly  built,  is  not  unlike  those 
which  George  Eliot  described  in  Adam  Bede,  or  which  even  now  may  be 
found  in  many  of  the  older  and  quieter  village  communities  of  New  Eng- 
land, New  York,  and  Pennsylvania. 

The  spinning  wheel  is  different,  however,  in  appearance  from  the 
old  wheels  which  we  find  now  and  again  in  ancient  houses,  or  exalted  to 
places  of  honor  in  local  museums,  although,  of  course,  the  principle  of 
working  is  practically  the  same. 

Being  made  by  Mexicans,  the  older  types  of  Chimayo  blankets  were 
made  in  two  parts,  as  are  the  scrapes,  sewed  together  down  the  middle. 
Of  late  years,  however,  as  there  has  grown  up  a  demand  for  Chimayo 
work,  the  double,  center-sewn  blanket  practically  has  been  abandoned,  and 
it  is  now  made  in  one  piece,  complete. 

Figs.  249,  250  are  representative  Chimayos  of  the  oldest  and  best 
types.  The  warp  is  of  home-grown,  home-cleaned,  home-carded,  homespun, 
natural  white  wool.  Two  threads  are  spun  together  to  give  the  blankets 


i7o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

strength  and  body.  The  weaving  is  simple,  as  is  also  the  design,  while 
the  colors  are  but  white,  black,  and  blue,  the  two  former  being  the  native 
colors  of  the  wool,  and  the  blue  made  by  dyeing  with  indigo.  In  some 
of  the  stripes  that  separate  the  black  it  will  be  observed  that  blue  and 
white  alternate.  This  alternation  is  caused  by  the  weaver  holding  a  shut- 
tle of  blue  in  one  hand,  and  one  of  white  in  the  other,  and  throwing 
them  simultaneously  in  opposite  directions. 

Fig.  249  is  of  much  the  simpler  form,  though  the  colors  in  both 
blankets  are  the  same,  and  only  straight  lines  are  used.  Fig.  250,  how- 
ever, is  much  better  woven  and  a  far  more  desirable  blanket.  It  is  of 
full  size  and  weighs  about  seven  pounds.  The  general  effect  of  its 
simplicity  in  color  and  design,  enhanced  by  a  peculiar  charm  bestowed  by 
age,  gives  it  a  dignity  altogether  foreign  to  the  later  and  more  pretentious 
work. 

Now  and  again  a  Chimayo  weaver,  embued  with  the  love  of  colors 
apparently  inherent  in  all  Mexicans,  wove  a  blanket  with  a  wider  gamut, 
and  I  was  fortunate  in  securing  a  rare  and  beautiful  specimen  of  this  type 
especially  woven  for  my  friend,  the  Rev.  G.  Haelterman,  the  Catholic 
priest  of  Santa  Cruz,  in  whose  parish  all  the  Chimayo  settlements  are, 
and  to  whose  people  he  has  continuously  ministered  for  a  score  or  more 
years.  This  blanket,  Fig.  251,  is  42x75  inches  in  size,  though,  as  it  is 
woven  in  two  parts  and  sewn  down  the  center,  it  is  really  two  strips  21x75 
inches  long.  The  basic  color  is  white  with  the  lines  of  the  serrated  dia- 
monds in  a  light  red,  dark  brown,  dark  blue,  rich  maroon-chocolate,  with 
touches  of  lemon-yellow.  The  blanket  has  been  washed  many  times  and 
some  of  the  colors  have  slightly  "  run  "  into  those  of  other  lines,  and  this 
seems  to  have  enhanced  the  color  values  instead  of  detracting  from  them. 

The  blue  dye  of  the  old  Chimayo  blanket  is  indigo.  This  was 
brought  from  Mexico  in  lumps  about  the  size  of  a  walnut.  A  number  of 
these  lumps  were  placed  in  a  small  sack  made  of  cheese-cloth  or  its  equiva- 
lent, which  was  then  thrown  into  a  small  earthenware  bowl  of  urine.  As 
soon  as  the  indigo  showed  signs  of  disintegrating  a  larger  bowl  was  put 
out  of  doors,  on  a  fire,  and  the  urine  and  indigo  stirred  now  and  again 
while  it  came  to  a  boil.  When  all  the  coloring  matter  was  thoroughly 
;  dissolved  and  the  liquid  boiled,  the  wool  was  immersed  several  times  until 
'<  the  color  was  thoroughly  absorbed.  The  yarn  was  then  allowed  to  drain 
I  for  a  short  time,  after  which  it  was  hung  out  to  dry. 

The  yellow  was  gained  from  the  same  flower *used  by  the  Navahos. 

The  red  used  was  exactly  as  described  in  the  chapter  on  the  bayeta 
blanket.  For  the  New  Mexican  trade  it  was  generally  purchased  in 
"  Brazil  sticks." 

When  attention  was  directed  by  experts  to  the  fine  weaving  of  the 


FIG.  227. 
Extra    Quality    Native    Wool. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 


THE  CHIMAYO  BLANKET  171 

Navahos,  and  the  traders  sent  collectors  all  through  New  Mexico  to 
gather  every  old  bayeta,  native-wool  and  native-dyed  blankets,  they 
brought  in  quite  a  number  of  these  Chimayo  blankets.  The  collectors  did 
not  gain  their  history;  they  were  simply  informed  they  were  not  Navahos, 
but  were  made  in  New  Mexico  by  Mexicans.  The  name  was  spelled, 
therefore,  in  Mexican  or  Spanish  fashion,  Chemallo,  and  it  was  not  until 
a  comparatively  recent  date  that  those  outside  of  New  Mexico  began  to 
learn  the  real  story  of  the  Chimayo  settlements,  as  I  have  herein 
recounted  it. 

The  output  of  old  Chimayos,  while  apparently  large,  was  very  small 
in  the  aggregate  when  such  a  population  as  that  of  the  United  States  is 
considered.  All  told  there  never  were  more  than  a  hundred  weavers  (so 
I  am  informed),  and  if  each  wove  three  blankets  a  winter  —  a  large  aver- 
age—  that  would  be  but  three  hundred  a  year.  The  ordinary  life  of  an 
old  Chimayo,  receiving  the  rough  usage  the  Mexicans  give  their  blankets, 
was  possibly  not  more  than  ten  years;  hence  many  of  them  have  passed  out 
of  existence.  Mexico  also  absorbed  quite  a  number,  for  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  Mexicans  weave  their  own  serapes  and  blankets,  the  Chimayo 
weaves  were  much  sought  after.  The  result  is  there  are,  I  suppose,  not 
more  than  a  score  of  good  old  Chimayos  now  offered  for  sale  in  the  coun- 
try. The  only  dealers  that  I  know  who  have  a  few  fine  and  desirable  speci- 
mens are  Fred  Harvey,  of  Albuquerque,  New  Mexico,  and  the  Burns 
Indian  Trading  Company,  of  Los  Angeles. 

Fig.  252  is  a  fine,  representative  example  in  the  Fred  Harvey  collec- 
tion. The  colors  are  black,  blue,  and  white,  the  only  dye  used  being  that 
of  indigo  for  producing  the  blue.  The  black  varies  in  color  just  as  the 
black  is  found  to  vary  on  the  backs  of  the  sheep,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  a 
little  gray  has  been  introduced  instead  of  black,  which  gives  a  unique  and 
pleasing  variety. 

This  blanket  throughout  is  of  native  wool  —  not  too  closely  woven 
—  and  the  warp  is  of  wool.  The  center  design  is  of  conventionalized 
diamonds,  while  the  remaining  part  of  the  design  is  made  up  of  diamonds, 
or  lozenges  of  various  sizes  made  of  rectangular  blocks  or  diamonds. 
The  border,  which  is  uniform  in  design  throughout,  is  mainly  black  with  a 
slight  mixture  of  gray  (before  referred  to)  with  blue  and  white  figures 
interwoven  throughout. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  Mexican  serape  inform  me  that  this 
design  is  very  often  found  in  the  Saltillo  serape.  Chimayos  of  this  type 
are  very  desirable  for  portieres  or  couch-covers,  where  they  do  not  get 
rough  usage. 

Fig.  253  is  of  an  old  Chimayo  in  my  own  collection.  It  is  48x65 
inches  in  size,  and  is  all  wool,  warp  and  woof,  and  as  light  a  specimen  as 


1 72  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

I  have  ever  seen.  It  is  soft  and  pliable  and  perfectly  suited  either  for  a 
bed-blanket  or  wrap.  Its  colors  are  white,  indigo-blue,  and  black,  but  the 
latter  has  softened  until  it  is  a  rich  brownish-black  that  gives  a  wonderfully 
beautiful  effect  to  the  blanket  as  a  whole. 

At  Chimayo,  however,  as  among  the  Navahos,  modern  methods  have 
entirely  revolutionized  the  industry.  A  modern  Chimayo  blanket  is  still 
a  distinctive  creation,  but  it  is  no  more  like  the  old  type  than  a  common 
Standard  Navaho  is  like  a  bayeta.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  Chimayo  weavers  have  never  made  as  tightly-spun  a  yarn,  or  as  closely- 
woven  a  blanket  as  did,  and  do,  the  Navahos.  Their  blankets  are  softer, 
more  adapted  for  bed  coverings,  or  for  actually  wrapping  around  the 
person. 

In  nearly  all  modern  Chimayos  cotton  warps  are  used  insteacLaf 
wool.  These  are  easier  to  get,  being  purchasable  at  the  nearest  store;  and, 
though  not  quite  so  easy  to  work,  as  they  do  not  lend  themselves  to  the 
strain  of  the  shuttle  as  do  the  wool  warps,  they  preserve  the  shape  better. 
They  are  also  cheaper,  thus  making  the  actual  cost  of  the  blanket  less  to 
the  weaver.  And,  as  in  thousands  of  cases,  the  buyer  knows  no  difference 
between  wool  and  cotton  warps,  and  is  willing  to  pay  as  much  for  the 
latter  as  for  the  former,  the  short-sighted  weaver  argues  that  it  is  to  her 
advantage  to  use  cotton. 

Little  by  little,  however,  the  same  check  will  be  put  upon  cotton- 
warped  Chimayo  blankets  as  has  been  upon  the  Navaho,  and  the  art  will 
improve  as  the  result 

But  not  only  do  the  modern  Chimayo  weavers  use  cotton  warp. 
They  have  grown  weary  in  well-doing,  and  no  longer  cut,  clean,  dye,  card, 
and  spin  the  wool  themselves.  It  is  so  much  easier  to  buy  Germantown 
yarn  all  ready  for  the  loom;  hence  most  modern  Chimayos  are  made  of 
Germantown  yarns  woven  on  cotton  warps.  Most  of  them  have  solid 
body  colors  with  small  designs  interspersed  throughout. 

When  I  asked  a  keen-brained  Mexican  father  of  a  family  why  native 
spinning  and  dyeing  were  abandoned,  and  cotton  warps  were  used  in 
place  of  the  more  satisfactory  home-made  wool-warps,  he  exclaimed: 
"Our  girls  do  not  want  to  work  so  hard  as  their  mothers  did.  They 
would  rather  go  to  school  and  make  a  speech  [recite]  than  card,  spin, 
and  dye  wool.  They  no  longer  sabe  how  to  make  atole.  If  they  pretend 
to  make  it  they  don't  cook  it  enough,  and  it  gives  one  indigestion  to  try  to 


eat  it." 


I  replied  that  it  was  "Too  bad!"  and  he  added,  with  a  melancholy 
air:  "They  should  not  forget  the  old  things  unless  they  learn  something 
better." 

I  could  not  help  thinking  how  appropriate  this  was  to  all  industries. 


FIG.  228. 
Native  Wool,  Brown  Body,  Blanket. 

(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 
Giving  rather  a  novel  but  pleasing  effect. 


[PAGE  152] 


r    et  r   r        r      r' 


THE  CHIMAYO  BLANKET  173 

It  is  a  bad  business  to  forget  the  old  good  ways,  especially  when  there  are 
substituted  for  them  new  and  worse  ways. 

For  small  pillow,  cushion,  and  table  covers  cotton  warps  may  answer 
every  purpose,  as  the  sizes  demand  so  little  weight,  and  the  wear  is  so 
small  that  the  cotton  is  equal  to  every  strain.  Some  of  the  designs  of  these 
covers  are  exceedingly  attractive,  and  they  are  worked  out  with  artistic 
skill.  Taste  in  color  necessarily  is  a  personal  matter.  What  pleases  one 
will  not  please  another,  and  the  Chimayo  weavers  are  no  exception  to  this 
universal  rule.  There  are  a  few  weavers,  however,  whose  tastes  seem 
more  critical  than  those  of  others,  and  their  work  meets  with  the  approval 
of  those  best  qualified  to  judge. 

In  order  to  meet  the  great  demand  for  modern  Chimayo  blankets 
of  this  and  the  better  class  Mr.  Burns,  of  the  Burns  Indian  Trading  Com- 
pany, of  Los  Angeles,  personally  visited  Chimayo,  bought  several  looms, 
and  engaged  the  best  weavers  he  could  find  to  come  to  Los  Angeles  and 
there  weave  regularly  for  his  growing  trade.  The  looms  were  set  up, 
and  for  the  past  two  or  more  years  have  been  steadily  at  work.  While 
small  covers  with  cotton  warps  are  made,  and  a  cheap  grade  of  the  larger 
blankets,  the  choicest  weaves  all  have  wool  warps.  Many  of  these  are  in 
almost  solid  colors,  of  reds,  browns,  blacks,  grays,  etc.,  with  small  designs 
in  the  center  or  at  the  ends  in  some  relieving  color  or  colors. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Cleaning  the  Navaho  Blanket 

TO  THE  housewife  it  sometimes  becomes  a  serious  matter  how  to  direct 
the  cleaning  of  blankets  that  she  knows  are  valuable  and  highly 
prized  without  injuring  them. 

The  Navahos  themselves  have  two  methods  of  cleaning  them.  One 
is  to  take  the  soiled  blanket  out  into  the  sand  of  the  cornfield,  and  then 
shovel  damp  sand  upon  it  and  allow  it  to  remain  buried  for  a  day  or  so 
(see  Fig.  254).  It  is  then  well  scrubbed  with  the  sand,  thoroughly  beaten 
and  shaken  and  allowed  to  fully  dry  and  air  in  the  sun. 

Where  a  more  thorough  cleansing  is  required  the  saponaceous  roots 
of  the  amole  are  taken,  macerated  into  shredded  fibre,  beaten  up  and  down 
in  a  bowl  of  water  until  a  rich  lather  is  produced.  With  this  suds  and  a 
rude  brush  made  of  shredded  cedar  bark  the  blanket  is  soaked  and  scrubbed 
on  both  sides,  after  which  it  is  rinsed  with  as  much  water  as  these  desert- 
dwellers  can  spare.  If  the  colors  are  not  well-mordanted  this  process 
naturally  makes  them  "run"  and  commingle,  and  this  often  spoils  a 
blanket,  but  where  the  colors  are  fast,  or  the  wool  of  the  blanket  is  the 
native  white,  black,  gray,  or  brown,  no  injury  can  result,  and  there  is  no 
soap  known  to  modern  civilization  that  equals  this  natural  soap  used  for 
so  long  by  these  Bedouins  of  the  Painted  Desert. 

The  Mexicans  use  the  same  amole  root  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning 
their  brilliantly-colored  scrapes  and  the  Chimayo  blankets  of  their  own 
weave. 

Of  course,  since  the  modern  vacuum  cleaner  has  come  into  use  it 
will  solve  the  problem  for  all  but  extreme  cases,  and,  perhaps,  in  such 
cases,  the  unaware  would  better  consult  an  expert  before  running  any 
risks. 


FIG.  229.  '-,-»  ;>; 

Extra"  Blanket  in  Gray,  White,  and  Black. 

(Courtesy  of  J.   A.    Molohon  &  Co.) 


APPENDIX 


The  Navaho  Indian 

F  ALL  the  North  American  Indian  tribes  none  is  more  interesting 

than  the  Navaho.  Occupying  a  reservation  in  the  northeastern  cor- 
ner of  Arizona  and  the  northwestern  corner  of  New  Mexico  —  the  largest 
Indian  reservation  in  the  United  States,  with  an  area  of  12,360,723  acres, 
or  about  19,313  square  miles,  larger  than  the  states  of  New  Hampshire, 
Vermont  and  Rhode  Island  combined  —  the  Navaho  tribe  is  rapidly  on 
the  increase. 

While  the  Navaho  are  supposed  to  remain  on  their  reservation,  they 
pay  little  attention  to  suppositional  requirements.  They  occupy,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  reservation,  about  2,304,000  acres,  or  3,600  square  miles,  of 
Government  and  railway  land,  together  with  a  large  portion  of  the  Hopi 
Indian  Reservation.  It  is  said  that  fully  2,000  Navahos  are  now  living 
on  the  lands  of  the  Hopi.  I  suppose  it  is  owing  to  the  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  these  people,  their  industrious  trading,  farming,  and  sheep- 
herding  occupations,  and  their  peaceable  character  that  they  are  accorded 
these  freedoms.  The  Hopis  do  not  seem  to  need  all  their  land,  and  little 
or  no  objection  is  made  to  the  presence  of  the  Navahos,  and  the  white 
people  are  so  eager  and  anxious  for  the  trade  of  a  thrifty,  prosperous,  and 
wealth  acquiring  race  that  they  welcome,  rather  than  object  to,  their 
presence  and  bartering  proximity. 

Yet  it  must  not  be  thought  that  the  Navaho  is  a  weak,  subservient, 
dependent  Indian.  Even  in  his  trading  he  is  bold,  independent,  self- 
reliant,  and  self-assertive.  The  most  skilful  traders  on  the  reservation 
assure  me  that  they  are  as  alert  as  the  most  wide-awake  white  men,  and 
that  the  wits  of  the  latter  are  often  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  keep  pace  with 
them.  The  major  portion  are  honest  and  reasonably  truthful,  but  they 
are  ready  and  quick  to  seize  every  advantage,  and  are  unscrupulous  in 
dealing  with  a  too-confident,  boastful,  or  ignorant  white. 

It  can  scarcely  be  said  of  them  that  they  are  —  what  Inspector  James 
McLaughlin,  in  his  admirable  My  Friend  the  Indian,  terms  the  Utes  — 
"unwhipped."  From  time  immemorial  they  are  said  to  have  warred  upon 
the  Pueblo  Indians,  and,  after  the  Spaniards  settled  in  New  Mexico,  upon 
these  invaders  also.  It  was  not  so  much  enmity  or  hostility  as  "benevolent 
assimilation"  that  was  the  motive  of  these  wars.  The  industrious  and 

175 


I?6  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

home-loving  Pueblos  and  Mexicans  accumulated  possessions  that  the 
Navahos  envied  and  coveted.  The  next  step  was  to  seize,  and,  as  they 
were  numerous,  crafty,  and  reasonably  brave,  they  generally  managed, 
either  by  stealth,  craft,  or  force,  to  obtain  what  they  wanted.  Many  a 
story  is  told  of  fights  with  the  Navahos  by  the  Mexicans  prior  to  the 
seizure  of  New  Mexico  by  Kearny,  August  15,  1846.  Some^of  these  form 
thrilling  chapters  in  the  books  of  Charles  F.  Lummis  —  stories  told  to  him 
by  his  Spanish  friends,  the  Bacas,  Chaves',  Hubbells,  and  others  of  early 
New  Mexican  days. 

Major  Emory,  who  accompanied  Colonel  Kearny,  thus  writes  of  Las 
Vegas,  N.  M.,  and  the  attacks  made  upon  it  by  the  Navahos: 

The  village,  at  a  short  distance,  looked  like  an  extensive  brick-kiln.  Approaching, 
its  outline  presented  a  square  with  some  arrangements  for  defense.  Into  this  square 
the  inhabitants  are  sometimes  compelled  to  retreat,  with  all  their  stock,  to  avoid  the 
attacks  of  the  Utaws  (Utes)  and  Navahos,  who  pounce  upon  them  and  carry  off 
their  women,  children,  and  cattle.  Only  a  few  days  since,  they  made  a  descent  on 
the  town  and  carried  off  120  sheep  and  other  stock.  As  Captain  Cooke  passed 
through  the  town  ten  days  since,  a  murder  had  just  been  committed  on  these  helpless 
people. 

And  September  30,  1846,  looking  out  over  the  mountainous  country 
northwest  of  Santa  Fe,  he  wrote : 

I  saw  here  the  hiding  places  of  the  Navahos,  who,  when  few  in  number,  wait 
for  the  night  to  descend  upon  the  valley  and  carry  off  the  fruit,  sheep,  women,  and 
children  of  the  Mexicans.  When  in  numbers,  they  come  in  daytime  and  levy  their 
dues.  Their  retreats  and  caverns  are  at  a  distance  to  the  west,  in  high  and  inacces- 
sible mountains,  where  troops  of  the  United  States  will  find  great  difficulty  in  over- 
taking and  subduing  them,  but  where  the  Mexicans  have  never  thought  of  penetrating. 
The  Navahos  may  be  termed  the  lords  of  New  Mexico.  Few  in  number,  disdaining 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  even  the  rearing  of  cattle,  they  draw  all  their  supplies 
from  the  valley  of  the  Del  Norte. 

This  was  the  common  reputation  of  the  Navahos  when  the  Americans 
first  began  to  come  in  contact  with  them.  The  Mexicans  and  the  Indian 
tribes  dreaded  them  as  a  hostile,  thieving,  quarrelsome,  yet  brave  and 
daring,  people.  They  were  in  constant  fear,  and  tried  again  and  again  to 
make  treaties  with  them,  which  were  no  sooner  made  than  they  were 
broken. 

The  United  States  Government,  through  its  officials  in  the  field, 
started  in  on  the  same  plan.  Rumors  were  current  that  the  Navahos 
had  a  great  and  impregnable  fortress  in  the  heart  of  their  country;  they 
were  reputed  warlike  and  treacherous,  and  the  better  and  wiser  plan 
seemed  to  be  to  conciliate,  rather  than  provoke  them  to  declared  hostility. 

When  Colonel  Kearny  left  Santa  Fe  for  California  he  placed  the 
responsibility  of  the  government  of  New  Mexico  upon  the  shoulders  of 


FIG.  230. 
Extra"  Native  Wool  Undyed  Blanket  of  Striking  Design. 


(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 
This  weaver  never  duplicates  her  blankets. 


[PAGE  153] 


THE  NAVAHO  INDIAN  177 

Colonel  Alex.  W.  Doniphan,  of  the  First  Missouri  Volunteers.  But  he 
had  not  been  gone  long  before  he  sent  Doniphan  a  special  order  to  organ- 
ize and  conduct  a  campaign  against  the  Navahos,  who  had  been  raiding 
the  valley  in  the  neighborhod  of  Polvodera.  Doniphan  immediately  left, 
placing  Colonel  Price  in  command  at  Santa  Fe,  and  finally,  at  Ojo  del  Oso 
(Bear  Spring),  after  a  campaign  of  six  weeks,  a  treaty  of  peace  was 
concluded. 

A  remarkable  speech  was  made  at  this  treaty  which  has  been  pre- 
served. In  his  negotiations  Doniphan  outlined  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  in  New  Mexico,  and  he  was  then  replied  to  by  Sarcilla  Largo,  a 
young,  bright,  and  aggressive  Navaho,  as  follows : 

Americans!  You  have  a  strange  case  of  war  against  the  Navahos.  We  have 
waged  war  against  the  New  Mexicans  for  many  years.  We  have  plundered  their 
villages,  killed  many  of  their  people,  and  have  taken  many  prisoners.  Our  cause  was 
just.  You  have  lately  commenced  a  war  against  the  same  people.  You  are  powerful. 
You  have  great  guns  and  many  brave  soldiers.  You  have  therefore  conquered  them, 
the  very  thing  that  we  have  been  attempting  to  do  for  many  years.  You  now  turn 
upon  us  for  attempting  to  do  what  you  have  done  yourselves.  We  cannot  see  why 
you  have  cause  to  quarrel  with  us  for  fighting  the  New  Mexicans  on  the  west,  while 
you  do  the  same  thing  on  the  east.  Look  how  matters  stand!  This  is  our  war. 
We  have  more  right  to  complain  of  you  for  interfering  in  our  war  than  you  have  to 
quarrel  with  us  for  continuing  a  war  we  had  begun  long  before  you  got  here.  If  you 
will  act  justly  you  will  allow  us  to  settle  our  own  differences. 

It  was  left  for  "Kit"  Carson,  who  served  in  New  Mexico  in  1862-6, 
under  General  James  H.  Carleton,  completely  to  break  the  warlike  and 
treaty-breaking  spirit  of  the  Navaho.  James  F.  Meline,  in  his  Two 
Thousand  Miles  on  Horseback,  thus  tells  part  of  the  story: 

Soon  after  General  Carleton  assumed  command  in  New  Mexico,  an  eminently 
respectable  deputation  of  eighteen  Navaho  chiefs,  with  keen  perspective  of  indefinite 
presents,  called  upon  him  to  know  if  he  would  make  a  treaty.  The  general  is  from 
the  state  of  New  Hampshire  and  characteristically  answered  their  question  with 
another  question:  "  What  do  you  want  of  a  treaty?"  "That  we  may  hereafter  have 
peace."  "  Well,  then,"  was  the  unexpected  reply,  "  go  home,  stay  there,  attend  to 
your  own  affairs,  commit  no  more  robberies  or  murders  upon  this  people,  and  you 
have  peace  at  once,  without  the  trouble  of  a  treaty."  Treaties,  the  general  informed 
them,  appeared  to  confuse  matters  and  involved  the  double  labor  to  the  Navahos  of 
making  and  breaking  them.  They,  the  Navahos,  well  knew  they  never  kept  them,  and 
he,  the  general,  was  not  a  child  to  be  beguiled  by  them.  "  Now,"  he  continued,  "  go; 
and  if  you  rob  or  murder  any  of  this  people,  so  surely  as  the  sun  rises,  you  shall  have 
a  war  that  you  may  not  soon  forget."  Navaho,  discomfited,  said  he  had  never  been 
treated  that  way  before.  Refused  a  treaty !  Was  such  a  thing  ever  heard  of  ?  They 
were  good  Indians  though.  They  would  return  to  their  country  and  try  to  persuade 
their  young  men  to  behave.  The  result  was  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  robbery  and 
murder  of  Mexicans  began  again.  Then  came  a  Navaho  message  that  a  large  number 
of  them  were  peaceably  disposed.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1863.  General  Carleton 


1 78  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

sent  them  word  that,  as  they  all  lived  together,  he  could  not  distinguish  friends  from 
foes-  that  those  who  claimed  to  be  friendly  should  come  out  from  among  the  others 
and  go  to  the  Bosque  Redondo,  a  large  and  beautiful  tract  of  land  forty  miles  square, 
with  six  thousand  acres  of  arable  land,  on  the  Pecos  river,  where  they  should  be  cared 
for  and  allowed  to  want  for  nothing.  Indian  reply  was  not  polite,  but  it  was  per- 
fectly intelligible.  Not  a  Navaho  would  come.  Another  message  from  the  General 
that  they  had  better  consider  the  matter  more  maturely.  They  might  have  until  the 
20th  of  July  with  the  door  of  peace  left  wide  open.  Once  closed,  it  should  never  be 
opened  again.  But  the  Navahos  said  they  had  heard  "  Big  Talk"  before  that  meant 
nothing;  had  listened  years  to  the  cry  of  "Wolf"  that  came  not.  And  they  scouted 
the  soldier's  warning.  True  to  his  promise,  the  war  opened  on  the  very  day  set  by 
General  Carleton,  July  20,  1863.  A  regiment  of  New  Mexicans,  with  more  than  a 
century  of  accumulated  wrong  and  oppression  to  avenge,  were  at  once  placed  under 
the  command  of  a  man  who  understood  his  Indian  well  —  Kit  Carson.  These  troops 
knew  neither  summer  rest  nor  winter  quarters,  but  pursued  the  Indian  foe  relentlessly, 
month  after  month,  night  and  day,  over  mesas  and  deserts  and  rivers,  under  broiling 
suns  and  the  rough  winter  snows,  killing  and  capturing  them  in  their  chosen  retreats, 
until  finally,  broken  and  dispirited  under  a  chastisement  the  like  of  which  they  had 
never  dreamed  of,  small  bands  began  to  come  in  voluntarily;  then  larger  ones,  and 
finally  groups  of  fifties  and  hundreds,  nearly  comprising  the  strength  of  the  tribe. 
The  prisoners  as  fast  as  received  were  dispatched  to  the  Bosque  Redondo  and  those 
who  remained  in  arms  sent  out  white  flags  in  vain. 

One  feature  of  Carson's  method  of  warfare  Mr.  Meline  does  not 
comment  upon,  yet  it  reveals  more  than  anything  else  Carson's  keen  insight 
into  Indian  character.  Instead  of  arguing  pow-wowing  or  threatening, 
Carson  acted. 

From  General  Carleton's  report,  as  quoted  by  Twitchell,  we  find 
that  in  five  counties  alone,  in  the  year  1863,  the  Navahos  stole  224  horses, 
4,178  cattle,  55,040  sheep,  and  5,901  goats,  besides  killing  sixteen  citizens. 
Carson's  method  was  to  retaliate  in  kind,  but  in  such  swift  and  merciless 
fashion  as  to  stun  and  bewilder  the  Navahos,  unused,  as  they  were,  to 
quick  and  forceful  action  on  the  part  of  the  Mexican  soldiers.  Carson 
fought  as  did  De  Wet  and  the  other  generals  of  the  Boer  war.  They 
had  no  evolutions,  no  marching  battalions  advancing  upon  the  foe  in 
lined-up  battle-array.  Stealthily,  in  the  night,  by  forced  marches  in  unsus- 
pected places  and  at  undreamed-of  times,  Carson's  men  moved  and  acted, 
hit  suddenly,  hit  hard,  killing  all  the  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats  they 
saw,  remorselessly,  relentlessly,  and  swiftly.  Carson  made  war  hell  to  the 
Navahos,  and  such  swift  and  persistent  hell  that  they  began  to  realize  — 
as  nothing  had  ever  made  them  realize  before  —  that  now  they  were  fight- 
ing with  men  who  knew  no  defeat,  and  who  also  knew  how  to  conquer. 
There  is  no  other  way  of  dealing  with  an  Indian  when  he  has  once  gone  on 
the  warpath. 

Thus  deprived  of  food  and  of  wool  with  which  to  make  blankets,  the 
ending  of  the  year  1864  practically  saw  the  major  portion  of  the  Navahos 


FIG.  231. 
Individualistic  Design  in  "  Extra  "  Blanket. 

(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 


[1'AGE   154] 


THE  NAVAHO  INDIAN 


179 


surrendered  and  over  7,000  of  them  living  at  the  Bosque  Redondo.  In 
the  transporting  of  the  prisoners  to  Bosque  Redondo  such  great  hardships 
and  terrible  exposures  were  experienced  that  many  of  them  died,  and  the 
few  who  were  allowed  to  retain  their  flocks  and  herds  lost  most  of  them 
in  crossing  the  snow-covered  mountains. 

During  the  time  they  were  kept  here  the  fates  seemed  against  them. 
Year  after  year  their  crops  failed.  Even  at  the  best  they  were  not  expert 
farmers,  and  the  corn-worm  ravaged  the  few  crops  they  did  persuade  to 
grow.  The  grazing  was  insufficient  to  nourish  their  flocks  and  herds,  and 
they  died  in  large  numbers.  Even  the  natural  increase  that  took  place 
was  a  disadvantage  rather  than  a  benefit,  for  the  mother-sheep,  weakened 
by  insufficient  food,  not  only  could  not  nourish  their  lambs,  but  they  were 
unable  to  recover  their  own  strength,  and  perished.  To  add  to  their 
miseries  their  hereditary  foes,  the  Comanches  and  other  Indians  of  the 
plains,  defying  the  forces  of  the  United  States  that  were  supposed  to 
protect  them,  stealthily  fell  upon  them  and  punished  them  severely.  Weak- 
ened by  want  of  food,  stricken  by  disease,  broken  in  spirit,  they  were  in 
sorry  plight. 

Then  came  Congress  to  their  rescue,  under  the  administration  of 
President  Grant.  A  Peace  Commission  was  appointed,  and  if  any  of  my 
readers  have  felt  that  my  many  strictures,  written  here  and  elsewhere, 
upon  the  criminal  wickedness  of  the  white  men  who  were  the  provoking 
causes  of  Indian  wars  —  even  those  of  the  Apache  and  Sioux,  as  well  as 
the  Navaho  —  have  been  too  severe,  I  would  urge  upon  them  a  careful 
perusal  of  its  report.  The  Commission  claimed  (and  proved  its  claims) 
that  in  fifty  years  the  United  States  Government  had  spent  five  hundred 
million  dollars,  besides  the  loss  of  twenty  thousand  lives,  and,  it  unhes- 
itatingly affirmed,  had  been  uniformly  unjust  toward  the  Indian. 

June  i,  1867,  General  Sherman  and  Colonel  Tappan  signed  a  treaty 
with  the  Navahos  —  the  terms  of  which  I  beg  my  readers  to  note  carefully 
—  by  which  they  should  be  returned  to  their  own  country  in  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona, 

Schools  should  be  established  and  schoolhouses  built  for  every  thirty  children 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  sixteen  years  among  them,  their  education  made  com- 
pulsory, the  heads  of  families  given  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  for  individual 
ownership,  seeds  and  agricultural  implements,  flocks  of  sheep  and  cattle,  and  one 
hundred  dollars  the  first  year,  twenty-five  dollars  the  second  and  third  years,  with 
clothing  and  other  articles  needed  to  encourage  and  aid  them  in  beginning  and  living 
a  civilized  and  industrious  life. 

I  have  given  these  promises  in  the  words  of  Colonel  Twitchell.  How 
were  they  carried  out?  The  flocks  were  given  to  them,  and  some  money, 
clothing,  and  food.  But  in  the  main  they  have  been  left  to  themselves  to 


1 80  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

develop  and  prosper  in  their  own  way.  The  Government  has  done  little 
for  them,  save  the  comparatively  recent  establishment  of  more  schools. 
Today  there  are  seven  government  schools  on  the  reservation,  in  addition 
to  those  of  the  various  religious  bodies.  None  of  the  latter,  however, 
receive  any  aid  from  the  United  States  Indian  Department. 

It  should  be  noted  with  gratification,  at  this  time,  that  there  is  a 
decided  tendency  to  improvement  in  our  treatment  of  the  Navaho.  And 
it  may  be  that  for  many  of  the  past  years  there  has  been  an  earnest  desire 
to  help  them  on  the  part  of  the  high  officials  at  Washington,  which  — 
broadly  and  generally  speaking — was  frustrated  by  the  incompetency  and 
inefficiency  of  the  agents  and  superintendents  in  the  field.  I  am  led  to 
this  conclusion  by  recent  personal  investigations  which  have  demonstrated 
that  where  an  agent  or  superintendent  really  has  the  welfare  of  the  Indian 
at  heart,  and  his  knowledge  and  ability  are  commensurate  with  his  sym- 
pathies, he  is  left  to  carry  out  his  plans,  not  only  unhampered  by  the 
department  in  Washington,  but,  in  the  main,  with  their  cordial  coopera- 
tion, sanction,  and  financial  help.  At  the  San  Juan  Agency,  locally  known 
as  Shiprock,  Superintendent  W.  T.  Shelton  took  hold  of  matters  with  the 
clearest  understanding  of  any  man  I  have  yet  met  in  the  Indian  service  in 
over  thirty  years  of  experience.  He  perceived,  what  all  other  workers 
with  Indians  have  always  learned,  that  to  educate  a  boy  or  girl  born  in  a 
hogan,  away  from  all  of  the  life  he,  or  she,  would  naturally  lead  if  left 
alone,  and  then  return  such  an  individual  to  the  original  conditions  and 
environment,  was  to  waste  time,  energy,  and  money,  just  as  if  he  were  to 
prepare  a  beautiful  garment,  carefully  laundering,  embroidering,  and 
decorating  it,  merely  to  throw  it,  when  completed,  upon  a  dirt  pile  to  be 
trampled  under  foot  by  wild  and  unclean  animals.  The  simile  may  seem 
unduly  strong,  but  it  is  not  any  exaggeration  upon  the  actual  conditions  that 
Mr.  Shelton  knew  to  exist.  Hence,  he  determined  to  care  for  the  life  of 
the  Navaho  boys  and  girls  of  his  school  (and  other  schools)  after  their 
scholastic  education  was  completed.  With  the  vigor  of  the  superior  man 
who  knows  what  he  wants  and  how  to  obtain  it  he  has  gone  ahead,  backed 
up  generously  in  the  main  by  the  department,  and  has  set  aside  5,000 
acres  of  land  to  be  used  as  home  plots  for  the  Indians  when  they  need 
them.  This  acreage  is  near  enough  to  the  San  Juan  Agency  to  allow 
daily  contact  with  the  life  of  the  school  and  church,  and  to  give  the  super- 
intendent and  teachers  opportunity  for  watchful  care  and  guardianship 
over  their  whilom  scholars. 

As  soon  as  the  young  people  graduate  each  one  is  given  one  of  these 
house  plots  of  five  acres  and  aided  in  building  a  house,  planting  out  the 
ground,  and  carefully  cultivating  the  crop.  Fine  sheep,  horses,  pigs,  and 
oxen  have  been  bought  for  breeding  purposes,  and  each  scholar  is  given 


FIG.  232. 
Individualistic  Design.     Same  Weave  as  Fig.  230. 

(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 
Showing  the  fertility  of  invention  in  the  maker.  [PAGE  154] 


THE  NAVAHO  INDIAN  181 

an  opportunity  to  purchase  these  at  the  lowest  possible  price.  If  a  couple 
desire  to  marry,  their  two  plots  are  given  together,  if  possible,  and  thus 
they  are  encouraged  to  settle  down  to  a  life  of  useful  and  civilized 
industry.  The  land  is  irrigated  by  a  well-constructed  system. 

Being  on  the  reservation,  their  parents  and  friends  are  able  to  visit 
them  and  are  encouraged  to  do  so.  In  this  way  it  is  hoped  the  good 
influence  will  spread  and  the  whole  tribe  ultimately  be  permeated  with  the 
better  ways  of  the  industrious  white  man. 

This  plan  of  Superintendent  Shelton  cannot  be  too  highly  commended, 
and  it  is  one  which,  if  persistently  followed,  will  do  more  to  civilize  the 
Navaho,  or  any  other  Indian,  than  a  thousand  years  of  the  methods 
hitherto  followed. 

There  seems  to  be  some  conflict  as  to  the  number  of  Navahos  now 
found  on  the  reservation.  Their  number  as  given  in  1869,  when  they 
returned  from  their  banishment  at  Bosque  Redondo,  was  nearly  9,000. 
In  1890,  though  the  census  is  acknowledged  to  have  been  faulty,  the 
figures  returned  were  17,204.  That  of  ten  years  later  gave  more  than 
20,000,  and  in  1906  the  Indian  Department  reported  a  rough  estimate 
of  28,500.  On  the  other  hand,  Father  Berard,  of  St.  Michaels,  in  his  An 
Ethnologic  Dictionary,  published  in  1910,  confuses  the  census  of  1890 
with  that  of  1900,  assuming  that  that  of  1900  gave  the  return  of  17,204. 
Hence,  he  infers  that  20,000  is  as  near  as  one  can  now  estimate.  Still 
others  assert  that,  as  many  of  the  Navahos  never  submitted  to  "Kit" 
Carson,  and  have  always  lived  in  more  or  less  inaccessible  places,  and  yet 
have  partaken,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  the  benefits  that  peace  has  brought 
to  the  tribe,  they  have  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  it  would  be  safe  to 
say  there  were  35,000  of  them. 

The  report  of  the  Indian  Department  for  1912  gave  the  following 
figures  of  the  Navahos  who  came  under  the  observation,  more  or  less,  of 
agents  and  school  superintendents  at  the  agencies  named.  The  gross 
totals  are  merely  estimated  and  make  no  pretence  to  numerical  accuracy. 

GROSS  TOTAL  OF 
CHILDREN  AND 
CHILDREN  OF  SCHOOL  AGE —  ADULTS 

Moki  (Ream's  Canyon) 462  2,000 

Navaho   2,500  9>99° 

Leupp 425  1,342 

Western  Navaho 1*409  6,131 

Albuquerque 62  208 

Pueblo  Bonita 1,221  2,685 

San  Juan. . 2,500  8,000 


Grand  total  of  children.  ...    8,579          Grand  total.  .        30,356 


182  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

While  I  have  no  desire  to  be  an  alarmist,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
Indian  Department  will  some  day  have  a  new  Indian  problem  on  its  hands. 
As  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  the  Navaho  is  not  confined  strictly  to  his  own 
reservation.  He  has  reached  over  and  seized  all  the  available  water-holes, 
springs,  pasture,  and  corn-land  on  the  Hopi  Reservation  that  are  not  in  the 
actual  occupancy  of  the  Hopis.  He  has  done  the  same  on  the  Zuni  Reser- 
'  vation,  and  has  not  a  few  locations  on  the  public  domain.  Being  prosper- 
ous and  well  fed,  he  is  naturally  virile,  and  the  women  of  the  tribe  being 
uniformly  healthy  and  vigorous,  families  are  sure  of  increase.  The  ratio 
of  births  enlarges  as  the  years  go  by,  and  it  will  not  be  long  before  there 
will  be  50,000  Navahos  on  territory  that  is  none  too  large  as  it  is.  What 
then?  If  the  Hopi  and  Zuni  demand  the  clearing  of  their  own  reserves, 
how  will  the  Government  meet  their  demands?  If  uninterrupted  occupa- 
tion confers  certain  rights,  what  will  be  said  to  the  Navahos  when  they 
assert  such  a  claim  to  springs  and  land  on  the  public  domain?  And  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  Navahos  of  this  generation  know  little  or  nothing 
of  the  Bosque  Redondo  experience,  and,  in  their  prosperity,  have  come  to 
regard  themselves  as  their  original  name,  Di-ne,  implies  —  the  people. 
They  will  prove  to  be  no  easy-going,  peace-loving  tribe  who  will  meekly 
submit  to  what  they  regard  as  injustice.  They  will  assert  what  they  con- 
ceive to  be  their  rights  and  bravely  stand  by  them,  and  it  behooves  our 
Indian  Department  and  the  wide-awake  statesmen  of  the  land  to  begin  to 
consider  what  course  of  action  can  righteously  and  properly  be  taken  when 
these  contingencies  arise. 

About  the  name  Navaho,  its  derivation,  significance,  and  spelling, 
there  has  been  considerable  controversy.  Here  are  the  salient  facts.  The 
name  first  appears  in  literature  in  Benavides'  Memorial  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  written  in  1630.  He  there  says,  after  describing  the  Gila  Apaches, 
that  more  than  fifty  leagues  north  of  these — 

One  encounters  the  province  of  the  Apaches  of  Nauajo.  Although  they  are 
the  same  Apache  nation  as  the  foregoing,  they  are  subject  and  subordinate  to  another 
Chief  Captain,  and  have  a  distinct  mode  of  living.  For  those  of  back  yonder  did 
not  use  to  plant,  but  sustained  themselves  by  the  chase;  and  today  we  have  broken 
land  for  them  and  taught  them  to  plant.  But  these  of  Nauajo  are  very  great  farmers, 
for  that  is  what  Nauajo  signifies  —  great  planted  fields. 

Upon  this  matter  Father  Berard  sagely  concludes : 

From  the  expression,  "  the  Apaches  of  Nauajo,"  it  is  evident  that  the  word 
Navaho  was  not  given  to  the  people,  but  was  the  name  of  the  province  or  territory 
m  which  they  lived;  or,  in  other  words,  the  Indians  themselves  were  called  Apaches, 
and  their  country  was  called  Navaho,  until,  later,  the  name  Apache  was  dropped 
and  the  name  of  the  territory  applied  to  the  inhabitants. 


FIG.  233. 
Simple  and  Pleasing  Design. 

Generally  woven  in  "Extra"  quality.  [PAGE  154] 


THE  NAVAHO  INDIAN  183 

Dr.  Edgar  L.  Hewett  says: 

The  Tewa  Indians  assert  that  the  name  "  Navahu "  refers  to  a  large  area  of 
cultivated  lands.  This  suggests  an  identity  with  Navaho,  which  Fray  Alonzo 
Benavides  applied  to  that  branch  of  the  Apache  nation  then  living  to  the  west  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  beyond  the  very  section  above  mentioned.  ...  It  would  seem,  at  any 
rate,  that  the  Tewa  origin  of  the  tribal  designation,  Navaho ,  is  assured. 

As  to  the  spelling:  Father  Berard  adopts  Navaho  in  his  An  Ethno- 
logic Dictionary,  as  did  Dr.  Washington  Matthews  in  his  Navaho  Legends, 
The  Night  Chant,  and  all  his  later  writings  on  these  people.  These  two 
men  are  by  long  odds  the  chief  authorities  upon  the  subject,  and  the 
"  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,"  which  is  the  official  guide  to  all  matters 
Indian  in  the  United  States,  has  formally  adopted  it;  also  the  "Board 
of  Geographic  Names"  and  most  leading  writers.  Why,  then,  others 
should  object  to  Americanizing  a  name  which  had  its  origin  in  this  country 
is  to  me  a  perversity  and  a  mystery.  Is  there  any  pleasure  to  be  derived 
from  spelling  a  word  so  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  reasonably  cultured 
Americans  will  mispronounce  it?  I  am  glad  to  follow  the  true  American 
style. 

Father  Berard  says: 

In  the  English  pronunciation  of  the  word  Navaho  the  first  a  is  short  and 
sounded  as  a  in  "hat";  the  second  a  is  indistinct;  the  h  is  strongly  aspirated;  the 
final  o  has  its  natural  sound,  and  the  accent  is  on  the  first  syllable.  Thus,  in  reading 
the  word,  the  vowels  and  the  v  and  h  have  about  the  same  sound  as  in  the  sentence, 
"  have  a  hoe."  The  Mexicans  place  the  main  accent  on  the  last  syllable,  pronounce 
the  h  slightly  guttural  and  sound  the  a  as  in  "ma"  and  "pa."  The  Navahos 
themselves,  when  using  this  name,  pronounce  it  thus:  Na-we-ho. 

Their  own  name  for  themselves,  however,  is  not  Navaho.  They  are 
the  Di-ne  (Tinneh)  —  the  people,  relatives  of  the  Tinnehs  of  Alaska,  and 
the  Apaches,  of  the  great  Athabascan  stock. 


II 

The  Religious  Life  of  the  Navaho 

TO  a  proper  comprehension  of  the  place  the  blanket  and  its  decoration 
have  in  the  life  of  the  Navaho  it  is  essential  that  we  know  some  of 
the  more  important  features  of  his  religious  life,  and  to  understand,  even 
though  in  an  incomplete  manner,  his  mental  processes. 

That  this  is  not  an  easy  task  is  manifested  by  the  fact  that  early  and 
late  writers  have  affirmed  that  the  Navaho  is  irreligious,  ignorant,  and 
without  tradition.  As  early  as  in  the  Smithsonian  Report  for  1855  Dr. 
Letherman,  who  resided  for  three  years  at  Fort  Defiance,  in  the  heart  of 
the  Navaho  country,  wrote  as  follows: 

Of  their  religion  little  or  nothing  is  known,  as,  indeed,  all  inquiries  tend  to  show 
that  they  have  none;  and  even  have  not,  we  are  informed,  any  word  to  express  the 
idea  of  a  Supreme  Being.  We  have  not  been  able  to  learn  that  any  observances  of  a 
religious  character  exist  among  them;  and  the  general  impression  of  those  who  have 
had  means  of  knowing  them  is,  that,  in  this  respect,  they  are  steeped  in  the  deepest 
degradation.  .  .  .  Their  singing  is  but  a  succession  of  grunts,  and  is  anything  but 
agreeable.  .  .  .  Their  lack  of  traditions  is  a  source  of  surprise.  They  have  no 
knowledge  of  their  origin,  or  of  the  history  of  the  tribe. 

As  late  as  1903  General  U.  S.  Hollister  wrote: 

Most  authorities  agree  that  the  Navaho  is  not  a  particularly  religious  Indian,  for 
the  reason,  I  suppose,  that  he  does  not  make  much  ado  about  it.  He  has  no  public 
Snake  Dances  or  other  ceremonies  that  are  likely  to  attract  attention  of  a  casual 
visitor;  nor  does  he  set  up  totem  poles  or  idols  in  his  public  places.  His  only  con- 
spicuous appliance  of  worship  is  the  altar  in  the  medicine  lodge,  which  is  hidden  from 
the  sight  of  white  men,  excepting  those  who  are  in  great  favor. 

These  altars  are  fantastically  ornamented  with  feathers,  stalks,  and  tassels  of 
corn,  grain,  grasses,  and  the  like,  and  on  the  floor  in  front  of  the  altar  are  strewed 
strange  symbols  in  colored  sand  —  "sand  paintings,"  as  they  are  called  by  white  folks; 
and  over  these  the  incantations  are  made,  prayers  are  said,  and  songs  sung,  to  invoke 
happiness,  and  success  in  their  every  undertaking. 

In  contradiction  of  these  statements  let  me  present  what  Dr.  Wash- 
ington Matthews  and  Father  Berard  have  to  say  upon  this  subject,  both 
of  them  men  who  have  given  years  to  a  thorough  and  persistent  study  of 
the  Navaho.  Dr.  Matthews  thus  comments  upon  Dr.  Letherman's  state- 
ment, which  he  notes  is  confirmed  by  Major  Kendrick,  who  for  many 
years  commanded  the  military  post  of  Fort  Defiance: 

184 


FIG.  234. 
Unique  Design  in  "  Extra  "  Quality. 

(Courtesy  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.) 
Designed  by  Yeh-del-spah  Bi-mah. 


[PAGE  154] 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO  185 

The  evidence  of  these  gentlemen,  one  would  think,  might  be  taken  as  conclusive. 
Yet,  fifteen  years  ago,  when  the  author  first  found  himself  among  the  Navahos,  he 
was  not  influenced  in  the  least  by  the  authority  of  this  letter.  Previous  experience 
with  the  Indians  had  taught  him  of  how  little  value  such  negative  evidence  might  be, 
and  he  begaa  at  once  to  investigate  the  religion,  traditions,  and  poetic  literature,  of 
which,  he  was  assured,  the  Navahos  were  devoid. 

He  had  not  been  many  weeks  in  New  Mexico  when  he  discovered  that  the  dances 
to  which  Dr.  Letherman  refers  were  religious  ceremonials,  and  later  he  found  that 
these  ceremonials  might  vie  in  allegory ,  symbolism,  and  intricacy  of  ritual  with  the 
ceremonies  of  any  people,  ancient  or  modern.  He  found,  ere  long,  that  these  heathen, 
pronounced  godless  and  legendless,  possessed  lengthy  myths  and  traditions  —  so  numer- 
ous that  one  can  never  hope  to  collect  them  all,  a  pantheon  as  well  stocked  with  gods 
and  heroes  as  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  and  prayers  which,  for  length  and  vain 
repetition,  might  put  a  Pharisee  to  the  blush. 

But  what  did  the  study  of  appalling  "succession  of  grunts"  reveal?  It  revealed 
that,  besides  improvised  songs,  in  which  the  Navahos  are  adepts,  they  have  knowledge 
of  thousands  of  significant  songs  —  or  poems,  as  they  might  be  called  —  which  have 
been  composed  with  care  and  handed  down,  for  centuries  perhaps,  from  teacher  to 
pupil,  from  father  to  son,  as  a  precious  heritage,  throughout  the  wide  Navaho  nation. 
They  have  songs  of  traveling,  appropriate  to  every  stage  of  the  journey,  from  the  time 
the  wanderer  leaves  his  home  until  he  returns.  They  have  farming  songs  which  refer 
to  every  stage  of  their  simple  agriculture,  from  the  first  view  of  the  planting  ground 
in  the  spring  to  the  "  harvest  home."  They  have  building  songs,  which  celebrate  every 
act  in  the  structure  of  the  hut,  from  "  thinking  about  it "  to  moving  into  it  and  lighting 
the  first  fire.  They  have  songs  for  hunting,  for  war,  for  gambling  —  in  short,  for 
every  important  occasion  in  life,  from  birth  to  death,  not  to  speak  of  prenatal  and 
post-mortem  songs.  And  these  songs  are  composed  according  to  established  (often 
rigid)  rules,  and  abound  in  poetic  figures  of  speech. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  their  metrical  compositions  are  those  connected 
with  their  sacred  rites  —  their  religious  songs.  These  rites  are  very  numerous,  many 
of  them  of  nine  days'  duration,  and  with  each  is  associated  a  number  of  appropriate 
songs.  Sometimes,  pertaining  to  a  single  rite,  there  are  two  hundred  songs  or  more 
which  may  not  be  sung  at  other  rites. 

In  confirmation  of  the  above  statements,  some  of  which  I  have  itali- 
cized, Dr.  Matthews  was  able  to  publish  before  his  death,  in  various  mon- 
ographs, books,  and  scientific  reports,  a  large  number  of  these  songs.  For 
instance,  in  The  Night  Chant,  which  is  a  marvelously  interesting  nine-day 
healing  ceremony  of  dances,  songs,  chants,  and  ritual,  there  are  constant 
references  to  the  power  of  beauty  to  transform  the  sick  into  the  healthy. 
In  the  Legend  of  the  Dawn  Boy  the  priest,  shaman,  or  medicine  man  who 
represents  the  Dawn  Boy  sings  a  song  in  which  are  the  following  lines: 

In  the  house  of  long  life,  there  I  wander. 
In  the  house  of  happiness,  there  I  wander. 
Beauty  before  me,  with  it  I  wander. 
Beauty  behind  me,  with  it  I  wander. 
Beauty  below  me,  with  it  I  wander. 


i86  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Beauty  above  me,  with  it  I  wander. 
Beauty  all  around  me,  with  it  I  wander. 
In  old  age  traveling,  with  it  I  wander. 
On  the  beautiful  trail  I  am,  with  it  I  wander. 

Then,  when  asked  what  he  wanted  in  this  strange  country  to  which 
he  had  come,  Dawn  Boy  replied: 

I  want  many  things.  I  have  brought  you  pieces  of  precious  stones  and  shells; 
these  I  wish  wrought  into  beads  and  strung  into  ornaments,  like  those  I  see  hanging 
abundantly  on  your  walls.  I  wish  domestic  animals  of  all  kinds.  I  wish  good  and 
beautiful  black  clouds,  good  and  beautiful  thunder  storms,  good  and  beautiful  gentle 
showers,  and  good  and  beautiful  black  fogs. 

Later  he  expresses  his  joy  in  songs  that,  with  Beauty  behind,  before, 
above,  below,  and  around  him,  he  returns;  that  he  " holds  it  in  his  hands," 
and  that  even  into  old  age  he  is  "on  the  trail  of  beauty";  while  still  later 
he  gives  thanks  constantly  and  with  much  iteration  that  "in  a  beautiful 
manner"  he  walks. 

When  he  arrives  again  at  his  home  he  gathers  his  people  together 
and  prays  and  sings  of  the  beautiful  things  he  has  seen  and  the  gifts  of 
the  gods,  all  of  which  are  beautiful.  Among  others,  he  enumerates  moc- 
casins, leggins,  shirt,  mind,  voice,  plumes,  soft  goods  [blankets,  etc.], 
horses,  sheep,  white  corn,  yellow  corn,  corn  of  all  kinds,  plants,  clouds, 
male  rain,  female  rain,  dark  mist,  lightning,  rainbows,  pollen,  and  grass- 
hoppers, and  then  declares  that  all  around  him  is  beautiful,  and  he  goes 
home.  "On  the  trail  of  beauty,  I  am,  In  a  beautiful  manner,  It  is  finished 
in  beauty." 

Their  poetic  imagination  is  evidenced  in  such  facts  as  that  they 
believe  that  the  first  iron-gray  horse  was  made  of  turquoise,  the  first  red 
(sorrel)  horse  of  red  stone  (carnelian?),  the  first  black  horse  of  cannel 
coal,  the  first  white  horse  of  white  shell,  and  the  first  piebald  horse  of 
haliotis  shell.  So  horses  are  now,  according  to  their  color,  called  after 
the  different  substances  of  which  the  first  horses  were  made.  Thus  the 
Navahos  speak  of  dolizllin  (turquoise  or  gray  horse),  bastailin  (red  stone 
or  sorrel  horse),  baszini  Yin  (cannel  coal  or  black  horse),  yolkai  I'm 
(haliotis  or  spotted  horse). 

The  hoofs  of  the  first  horse  were  made  of  tsehadahonige,  or  mirage  stone,  a 
stone  on  which  paints  are  ground.  Such  stones  are  added  to  earth  from  six  sacred 
mountains  to  form  their  most  potent  medicine.  A  shaman  will  not  treat  a  diseased 
horse  without  this.  It  is  used,  too,  when  they  pray  for  increase  of  stock  and  increase 
of  wealth.— Dr.  Matthews. 

Father  Berard  naturally  views  the  ritualistic  and  ceremonial  life,  the 
myths,  legends,  and  religion  of  the  Navaho  from  the  standpoint  of  a  faith- 


FIG.  235. 

Daring   Design  of  Naturalistic  and  Geometric  Figures. 

[PAGE   155] 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO  187 

ful  and  devoted  son  of  the  Catholic  Church;  hence,  while  he  chronicles 
conscientiously  what  he  has  learned,  he  speaks  of  it  all  as  superstition  and 
heathen  ignorance.  He  says: 

The  elaborate  system  of  religious  worship  among  the  Navahos  lets  them 
appear  as  a  very  religious  people.  Their  anthropomorphic  deities  are  numerous  and 
strikingly  democratic,  each  excelling  in  his  peculiar  sphere  of  independent  activity 
or  power.  They  are  described  as  kind,  hospitable,  and  industrious;  on  the  other 
hand,  as  fraudulent,  treacherous,  unmerciful,  and,  in  general,  subject  to  passions  and 
human  weaknesses.  Their  lives,  to  a  great  extent,  are  reflected  in  the  social  condition 
of  the  Navaho ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  subordination  to  local  headmen,  in  the  manner 
of  farming,  hunting,  ceremony,  etc.,  all  of  which  find  an  explanation  in  previous 
occurrences  in  the  lives  of  the  Holy  Ones.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  ceremonies 
or  chants,  most  of  which  were  established  by  the  diyi-ni,  or  Holy  Ones,  for 
removing  evil. 

In  these  comments  Father  Berard  simply  states  of  the  Navaho  what 
scholars  of  all  ages  have  said  of  the  Greeks  and  their  pantheon  of  gods. 
Wherein  is  the  difference?  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  used  to  declare  that  "  an 
honest  god  is  the  noblest  work  of  man,"  and  therein  he  stated  the  experi- 
ence of  the  ages.  For  so  long  as  men  look  to  their  mentality,  their  reason, 
to  furnish  them  with  gods,  the  latter  are  sure  to  manifest  the  mental  inade- 
quacies, ignorances,  errors,  faults,  mistakes,  vices,  noblenesses,  and  gen- 
eral inconsistencies  of  their  creators.  It  is  only  when  men  yield  to  the 
spiritual  visions  that,  alas,  in  our  fleshly  condition  come  too  seldom  to  us, 
that  they  gain  a  truly  spiritual  conception,  small  and  faint  though  it  may 
be,  of  the  real  spiritual  Allness  that  governs  and  controls  all  things. 
Hence,  the  Navaho  is  not  to  be  condemned  for  the  limited  scope  of  his 
spiritual  vision,  any  more  than  are  we,  the  so-called  superior,  civilized,  and 
Christian  people. 

Of  the  chants  taught  by  the  Holy  Ones,  Father  Berard's  comments 
are  most  interesting  and  revelative.  Few  white  men  have  the  remotest 
conception  of  the  dignity  and  grandeur,  in  some  respects,  of  these  barbaric 
rituals.  The  sand-altars  —  those  exquisite  symbolic  picture-mosaics,  made 
by  sprinkling  vari-colored  sands  with  consummate  skill  upon  the  floor  of 
the  medicine  hogan,  are  known  to,  and  appreciated  by,  but  few.  Every 
sign  and  symbol  upon  them  has  a  deep  and  profound  spiritual  significance; 
and  while,  naturally,  all  the  ceremony,  its  songs  included,  appears  to  us  as 
foolish,  blind  superstition,  we  should  rather  be  humble  than  proud  when 
we  consider  how  far  from  perfect  our  own  religion  makes  us  in  our  actual 
daily  living.  Father  Berard  says: 

The  subject  of  Navaho  chants  is  sufficiently  intricate  and  varied  to  be  of 
absorbing  interest  to  the  lover  of  folk-lore,  as  it  is  practically  virgin  soil,  offering 
unlimited  possibilities.  ...  A  glance  at  the  following  list  of  chants  should  suggest 


1 88  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

that  comparatively  little  has  as  yet  been  achieved  by  way  of  offering  a  comprehensive 
study  of  Navaho  mythology,  which,  in  reality,  forms  the  basis  and  ritual  for  the 
chants,  since  the  origin  and  motive  for  each  chant  is  based  upon  its  own  peculiar 
legend.  .  .  .  [Then  he  expresses  regret  that]  many  chants  are  becoming  extinct,  and 
the  singers  conversant  with  legends,  songs,  and  prayers  are  fast  disappearing,  without 
a  possibility  of  filling  such  vacancies.  It  is  also  well  established  that  much  singing 
and  exorcising  is  continuously  practised  by  a  class  of  inferior  and  ignorant  apprentices, 
whom  the  Navaho  designate  as  aza  oniligi  —  those  who  offer  a  mouthful,  implying 
that  they  make  a  few  prayer-sticks  accompanied  by  a  song  or  two.  .  .  .  Hence,  the 
extinction  of  the  existing  and  more  difficult  chants  is  conceded  as  inevitable  by  the 
remnant  of  conservative  and  studious  members  of  the  chant  lodges,  for  want  of  proper 
pupils.  Efforts  are  consequently  being  made  to  obtain  a  complete  account  of  the 
various  legends,  with  a  view  of  supplementing  those  already  existing. 

He  then  enumerates  the  list  of  chants  in  two  classes:  first,  those  that 
do  not  directly  deal  with  the  yei,  or  gods;  and,  second,  those  as  originated 
with  and  from  the  gods.  Let  us  look  at  the  wonderful  scope  of  this  first 
list.  There  are  chants  dealing  with  the  "  Moving  Upward,"  or  the  begin- 
ning of  things  in  the  lower  worlds,  and  their  emergence  upwards.  The 
Moving  Upward  Chant  is  still  largely  in  demand,  as  it  is  supposed  to 
have  great  power  in  dispelling  witches  and  their  evil  craft.  The  War 
Dance,  which  is  for  the  dispelling  of  foreign  enemies;  the  Rite  of  the 
God  Men,  which  was  extensively  in  demand  on  raids  and  in  war  (though, 
as  now,  raids  and  war  are  prohibited  by  the  United  States  government, 
this  is  seldom  sung  nowadays).  Then  there  is  the  Rite  for  Dispelling 
Monsters  —  or  the  blackening  and  driving  out  of  witches  and  native  ene- 
mies, in  contradistinction  to  the  driving  out  of  foreign  enemies.  A  cere- 
mony or  chant  continuously  called  for  is  that  of  Renewal,  or  Benediction. 
This  is  an  essential  feature  of  every  Navaho  chant.  Hence,  in  the  Night 
Chant,  which  requires  nine  days  for  its  observance,  one  night  is  set  apart 
for  this  chant  of  blessing. 

Outside  of  its  connection  with  the  longer  chants,  it  appears  as  a  one-night 
ceremony  of  blessing  upon  the  hogan,  the  members  of  the  family,  their  chattels  and 
real  estate,  their  crops  and  occupation,  such  as  weaving  and  singing,  their  propen- 
sities to  greed,  at  the  nubile  ceremony,  or  the  birth  of  a  child,  the  dedication  of  a 

new  set  of  ceremonial  masks,  for  the  purification  of  the  ceremonial  paraphernalia 

in  fact,  for  almost  any  phase  of  domestic  life. 

Then  there  is  the  Chant  for  Dispelling  the  Darts  of  the  Male 
Powers  of  Evil,  such  as  the  lightning,  rattlesnakes,  and  the  like.  When 
the  first  moccasin  was  made  an  Awl  Chant  was  composed  and  handed 
down,  but  of  late  years  it  has  dropped  into  disuse.  There  is  also  an 
extinct  Hail  Chant,  and  one  almost  extinct  called  the  Corral  Rite.  It  was 
used  for  corralling  antelope  and  deer,  and  in  the  chase  at  large;  but,  as 
the  rifle  and  modern  weapons  have  almost  entirely  done  away  with  the 


[SSi   aovj] 

B  n  SSAIQ 


UIJBJW  PUB 
sii{X  J°  XP°9 


jo  poo^ 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO  189 

old  methods  of  hunting,  the  old  chants  are  no  longer  sung.  Those  that 
are  still  in  vogue  are  the  Big  Star  Chant;  the  Wind  Chant,  to  propitiate 
the  winds  that  so  often  are  harmful  and  injurious;  the  Coyote  Chant,  and 
a  similar  one  for  the  removal  of  mania  and  prostitution;  the  Water  Chant, 
the  Female  Lightning  Chant,  and  the  Chant  for  the  Trapping  of  Eagles. 
The  Feather  Chant  is  sometimes  in  demand,  but  the  fact  that  many 
requisites,  such  as  baskets,  buckskins,  feathers,  and  numerous  prayer- 
sticks,  all  the  latter  of  which  have  to  be  made  expressly  for  the  particular 
ceremony  in  which  they  are  to  be  used,  militates  against  its  popularity. 

The  other  chants  are  in  some  way  connected  with  the  Holy  Ones. 
These  are  the  Mountain  Chant  of  the  Maiden  Becoming  a  Bear;  the 
Chant  of  Beauty,  by  which  the  bear  and  copperhead  inveigle  two  beautiful 
maidens  into  marriage  with  them;  the  Night  Chant,  of  which  Dr.  Mat- 
thews says: 

It  is  really  a  healing  ceremony.  It  is  celebrated  primarily  for  the  cure  of  a 
rich  invalid,  who  pays  the  heavy  expenses;  but  the  occasion  is  devoted  to  other 
purposes  also,  to  prayers  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  at  large,  and,  among  other 
things,  to  the  initiation  of  youths  and  maidens,  and  sometimes  people  of  maturer 
years,  into  the  secret  of  the  Yebitsai. 

After  explaining  the  ceremony,  the  Doctor  then  continues: 

The  secret  of  the  Yebitsai  is  this:  The  Yet  are  the  bugaboos  of  Navaho 
children.  These  Indians  rarely  inflict  corporal  punishment  on  the  young,  but,  instead, 
threaten  them  with  the  vengeance  of  these  masked  characters  if  they  are  unruly. 
Up  to  the  time  of  their  initiation  they  are  taught  to  believe,  and,  in  most  cases, 
probably  do  believe,  that  the  Yei  are  genuine  abnormal  creatures  whose  function  it  is 
to  chastise  bad  children.  When  the  children  are  old  enough  to  understand  the  value 
of  obedience  without  resort  to  threats,  they  are  allowed  to  undergo  this  initiation 
and  learn  that  the  dreaded  Yei  is  only  some  intimate  friend  or  relation  in  disguise. 
After  this  initiation  they  are  privileged  to  enter  the  medicine  lodge  during  the 
performance  of  a  rite. 

One  evening  I  attended  a  Yebitsai  dance,  a  few  miles  from  Ganado, 
Ariz.,  on  the  Navaho  Reservation,  and,  making  application  to  the  Chief 
Chanter  of  the  Dance,  my  companion,  Mr.  A.  W.  Dubois,  and  myself 
were  permitted  (as  I  had  been  before)  to  undergo  the  rite  of  initiation. 
We  disrobed  in  the  medicine  hogan  and  went  through  the  whole  rite. 
Afterward  we  took  part  in  the  concluding  ceremonies  of  the  nine  days  of 
the  Night  Chant,  of  which  this  Yebitsai  initiation  forms  a  part  of  but  one 
night's  rites. 

Then  there  are  the  Chant  of  the  Clan  Dance;  the  Feather-Shaft 
Chant,  sometimes  called  the  Knife  Chant,  or  the  Life  Chant,  as  often  upon 
the  directness  of  feather-shaft  of  the  shot  arrow  or  the  piercing  power  of 
the  knife  one's  life  depends;  the  Bead  or  Eagle  Chant  of  the  Great  Ship- 


I9o  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

rock,  which  is  connected  with  the  legendary  advent  of  the  Navahos  into 
this  country;  the  One  Day  Song,  so  called  because  it  recounts  the  legend 
of  a  man  slain  by  a  bear  and  revived  in  one  day;  the  Red  Ant  Chant  —  the 
Navahos  dread  these  tiny  but  active  creatures;  the  Big  God  Chant;  the 
Chiricahua- Apache  Wind  Chant;  the  Lightning  Chant;  the  Female  Light- 
ning Chant,  and  the  Mountain  Chant  to  the  Small  Birds. 

Who  shall  say  that  here  is  not  material  for  study?  And  all  are 
interesting.  I  have  sat  for  nine  nights  in  succession  and  listened  to  songs 
that  must  have  consumed,  say,  five  or  six  hours  of  each  night  in  continuous 
performance,  and  there  are  few  repetitions,  yet  each  one  must  be  sung 
correctly  and  entirely  from  memory  or  the  whole  nine  days'  ceremonies 
are  vitiated  and  must  be  gone  over  again.  Many  of  the  songs  are  beauti- 
ful, as  one  can  conceive  on  re-reading  those  of  the  blessing  of  the  hogan, 
which  are  elsewhere  quoted. 

As  can  well  be  understood  from  all  that  has  gone  before,  the  Navaho 
is  a  firm  believer  in  spells,  charms,  portents,  signs,  wizardry,  and  witch- 
craft. His  religion,  naturally,  is  a  crude  religion  largely  composed  of 
Nature  Worship,  and  his  primitive  mind  has  sought  to  explain  all  the 
many  diverse,  strange,  and  especially  harmful  and  hostile  forces  he  finds 
around  him,  in  accordance  with  the  workings  of  his  simple  and  untutored 
intellect.  From  the  legends  of  the  people  we  gain  much  information  as  to 
their  beliefs.  Some  of  these  legends  are  quaint,  interesting,  beautiful,  and 
instructive.  These  four  adjectives  may  seem  to  be  carelessly  chosen,  but 
they  are  not.  They  truthfully  designate  these  stories.  Naturally,  when 
one  gets  a  real  peep  into  the  mind  of  the  Indian,  his  methods  of  thought 
are  found  to  be  quaint.  And  in  these  legends  this  quaintness  is  enhanced 
by  the  fact  that  the  stories  are  old  and  have  all  that  peculiar  flavor  that 
belongs  to  stories  that  have  been  handed  down  for  many  hundreds  of 
years.  And  how  can  the  stories  that  account  for  the  origin  of  the  Navaho 
which  are  different  from  our  origin  stories,  be  other  than  interesting  to 
those  who  like  to  know  how  the  human  mind  works  with  different  people, 
influenced  by  their  own  peculiar  environment.  That  some  parts  of  their 
stories  are  horrible  and  dreadful  may  be  expected,  for  they  deal  with  the 
primitive  instincts  of  man,  where  cruelty,  even  to  murder,  is  no  uncommon 
thing,  and  blood  is  made  to  flow  freely.  But  just  as  the  fierce  thunder  and 
lightning  storm  is  often  followed  by  the  most  exquisite  and  tender  sky- 
effects,  so  are  these  harsh  and  bloody  stories  preceded  and  followed  by 
revelations  of  exquisite  tenderness,  gentleness,  kindness,  and  love.  The 
instructiveness  of  these  legends  is  in  the  opportunity  they  afford  for  the 
student  to  see  the  working  of  the  primitive  mind.  The  human  mind  is  sub- 
ject to  laws  of  development  exactly  as  is  the  body,  and  it  has  grown  up 
from  its  childhood  just  as  each  man  has  grown  up  from  babyhood.  In 


FIG.  240. 
Native  Wool  Fancy  Blanket. 

(Matthews  Collection.) 


Frc.  239. 
Fancy  Saddle  Blanket.  Native 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO  191 

studying  these  Indian  stories  we  are  getting  back  to  the  period  of  the 
child-mind  of  the  race,  and  such  revelations  are  found  to  be  in  the  highest 
degree  instructive. 

To  tell  the  whole  story  of  the  origin  of  the  Navahos  would  fill  a  good- 
sized  book.  The  first  part  of  the  legend  recounts  the  emergence  of  the 
people  from  the  four  lower  worlds  into  the  fifth  world.  The  second  part 
tells  of  their  experience  in  the  fifth  world.  The  third  part  tells  of  the  war 
gods.  The  fourth,  of  the  growth  of  the  Navaho  nation. 

It  is  in  the  third  part  that  we  learn  the  story  of  Yeitso,  who  was  slain 
by  the  two  heroes  of  the  tribe  who  cut  off  his  head  and  placed  it  to  the 
east  of  Mount  San  Mateo,  where  it  is  known  as  Cabezon  and  where  the 
lava  flow  is  regarded  as  the  flow  of  his  blood. 

Soon  after  these  two  heroes  were  born,  while  their  mothers  were 
baking  corn  cakes,  Yeitso,  the  tallest  and  fiercest  of  the  alien  gods  of  the 
Navahos,  appeared  walking  rapidly  towards  the  hogan.  Knowing  that 
he  was  a  fierce  cannibal  and  would  slay  and  eat  their  children,  one  of  the 
mothers  hastily  grabbed  them  up,  earnestly  cautioning  them  to  be  perfectly 
silent  and  hid  them  away  in  the  bushes,  under  some  bundles  and  sticks. 
Yeitso  came  and  sat  down  at  the  door  just  as  the  women  were  taking  the 
cakes  out  of  the  ashes.  He  wanted  one  of  the  cakes,  but  the  women  refused 
it.  "  Never  mind,"  said  Yeitso ;  "  I  would  rather  eat  boys.  Where  are  your 
boys?  I  have  been  told  you  have  some  here  and  have  come  to  get  them." 
Putting  Yeitso  off  as  well  as  they  could,  they  finally  made  him  believe  that 
there  were  no  boys  around. 

It  was  not  very  lo»g  after  he  had  gone  before  one  of  the  women, 
having  to  go  to  the  top  of  a  near-by  hill,  saw  a  number  of  these  alien  gods 
hastening  towards  their  hogan  from  all  directions.  Hurrying  down  in 
great  distress,  she  told  her  sister.  This  sister  had  magical  power,  and, 
picking  up  four  colored  hoops,  she  threw  the  white  one  to  the  east;  the 
blue  one  to  the  south;  the  yellow  one  to  the  west  and  the  black  one  to  the 
north.  These  magic  hoops  produced  a  great  gale  which  blew  so  fiercely 
in  all  directions  from  the  hogan  that  even  the  great  power  of  the  alien 
gods  was  not  sufficient  to  allow  them  to  approach  it. 

The  two  boys  that  Yeitso  was  hunting  were  little  fellows  of  super- 
human origin,  and,  having  no  fathers  as  other  boys  had,  were  curious  to 
find  their  fathers,  and,  in  spite  of  the  prohibitions  of  their  mothers,  would 
keep  journeying  first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  another,  determined  to 
find  their  fathers,  and  the  stories  of  their  adventures  are  strange  and 
wonderful. 

One  of  these  stones  was  about  their  visit  to  the  underworld,  where 
they  found  the  "  Spider-woman."  She  it  was  who  gave  them  their  magic 
charms  and  taught  them  many  magic  formulae.  One  of  these  explains 


i92  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

why  the  Navahos  gather  and  use  so  much  pollen  in  their  ceremonies. 
Pollen,  while  plentiful  in  the  aggregate,  is  very  light,  airy,  floating  stuff, 
and  exceedingly  difficult  to  gather.  Yet  the  Navaho  medicine  men  are 
indefatigable  in  procuring  certain  kinds  of  pollen  at  certain  times  of  the 
year  when  the  moon  is  in  certain  exact  locations. 

When  these  boys  met  their  giant  enemies,  all  they  had  to  do  was  to 
sprinkle  towards  them  some  of  a  certain  kind  of  pollen  and  then  repeat 
this  formula :  "  Put  your  feet  down  with  pollen.  Put  your  hands  down 
with  pollen.  Put  your  head  down  with  pollen.  Then  your  feet  are  pollen ; 
your  hands  are  pollen;  your  body  is  pollen;  your  mind  is  pollen;  your  voice 
is  pollen.  The  trail  is  beautiful.  Be  still." 

Here  is  one  of  the  incidents  that  occurred  as  the  two  boys  left  the 
house  of  the  Spider-woman.  They  came  to  the  place  known  as  "Tse'- 
yeinti'li"  (the  rocks  that  crush).  There  was  here  a  narrow  chasm 
between  two  high  cliffs.  When  a  traveler  approached,  the  rocks  would 
open  wide  apart,  apparently  to  give  him  easy  passage  and  invite  him  to 
enter;  but  as  soon  as  he  was  within  the  cleft  they  would  close  like  hands 
clapping  and  crush  him  to  death.  These  rocks  were  really  people;  they 
thought  like  men;  they  were  anaye  (that  is,  cannibalistic  gods).  When 
the  boys  got  to  the  rocks  they  lifted  their  feet  as  if  about  to  enter  the 
chasm,  and  the  rocks  opened  to  let  them  in.  Then  the  boys  put  down  their 
feet,  but  withdrew  them  quickly.  The  rocks  closed  with  a  snap  to  crush 
them;  but  the  boys  remained  safe  on  the  outside.  Thus  four  times  did 
they  deceive  the  rocks.  When  they  had  closed  for  the  fourth  time  the 
rocks  said:  "Who  are  ye;  whence  come  ye  two  together,  and  whither 
go  ye?"  "We  are  children  of  the  Sun,"  answered  the  boys.  uWe  come 
from  Dsilnaotil,  and  we  go  to  seek  the  house  of  our  father."  Then  they 
repeated  the  words  that  the  Spider-woman  had  taught  them,  and  the  rocks 
said:  "Pass  on  to  the  house  of  your  father."  When  next  they  ventured 
to  step  into  the  chasm  the  rocks  did  not  close,  and  they  passed  safely  on. 

The  boys  kept  on  their  way  and  soon  came  to  a  great  plain  covered 
with  reeds  that  had  great  leaves  on  them  as  sharp  as  knives.  When  the 
boys  came  to  the  edge  of  the  field  of  reeds  (Lokaadikisi),  the  latter  opened, 
showing  a  clear  passage  through  to  the  other  side.  The  boys  pretended  to 
enter  but  retreated,  and  as  they  did  so,  the  walls  of  reeds  rushed  together 
to  kill  them.  Thus  four  times  did  they  deceive  the  reeds.  Then  the  reeds 
spoke  to  them  as  the  rocks  had  done;  they  answered  and  repeated  the 
sacred  words.  "  Pass  on  to  the  house  of  your  father,"  said  the  reeds, 
and  the  boys  passed  on  in  safety. 

The  next  danger  they  encountered  was  in  the  country  covered  with 
cane  cactuses.  These  cactuses  rushed  at  and  tore  to  pieces  whoever  at- 
tempted to  pass  through  them.  When  the  boys  came  to  the  cactuses  the 


FIG.  241. 
An  Old  Native  Wool  Dyed  Blanket. 

(Courtesy  of  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.) 


[PAGE   156] 


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. 

w  « 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO  193 

latter  opened  their  ranks  to  let  the  travelers  pass  on,  as  the  reeds  had 
done  before.  But  the  boys  deceived  them  as  they  had  deceived  the  reeds, 
and  subdued  them  as  they  had  subdued  the  reeds,  and  passed  on  in  safety. 

After  they  had  passed  the  country  of  the  cactus  they  came,  in  time, 
to  Saitad,  the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sands.  Here  was  a  great  desert  of  sands 
that  rose  and  whirled  and  boiled  like  water  in  a  pot,  and  overwhelmed 
the  traveler  who  ventured  among  them.  As  the  boys  approached,  the 
sands  became  still  more  agitated  and  the  boys  did  not  dare  venture  among 
them.  "Who  are  ye?"  said  the  sands,  "and  whence  come  ye?"  "We 
are  children  of  the  Sun,  we  came  from  Dsilnaotil,  and  we  go  to  seek  the 
house  of  our  father."  These  words  were  four  times  said.  Then  the 
elder  of  the  boys  repeated  his  sacred  formula;  the  sands  subsided,  saying: 
"  Pass  on  to  the  house  of  your  father,"  and  the  boys  continued  on  their 
journey  over  the  desert  of  sands. 

The  boys  finally  reached  the  house  of  the  Sun  God,  their  father.  It 
was  built  of  turquoise,  but  square  like  a  pueblo  house  and  stood  on  the 
shore  of  a  "  great  water."  Here  they  were  in  much  danger  and  would 
undoubtedly  have  perished  had  it  not  been  that  they  were  magically  pro- 
tected. For  in  a  short  time  the  giant  who  bore  the  Sun  on  his  shoulder 
came  in.  He  took  the  Sun  off  his  back  and  hung  it  on  a  peg  on  the  west 
wall  of  the  room,  where  it  shook  and  clanged  for  some  time,  going,  "  tla, 
tla,  tla,  tla,"  till  at  last  it  hung  still.  It  took  some  time  for  the  bearer  of 
the  Sun  God  to  realize  that  he  was  the  father  of  these  boys,  but  when  he 
did,  he  greeted  them  with  great  affection  and  asked  them  their  mission. 
They  explained  that  the  land  in  which  they  dwelt  was  cursed  and  devas- 
tated by  the  presence  of  a  number  of  alien  gods  who  devoured  their  peo- 
ple. Said  they:  "They  have  eaten  nearly  all  of  our  kine;  there  are  few 
left;  already  they  have  sought  our  lives  and  we  have  run  away  to  escape 
them.  Give  us,  we  beg,  the  weapons  with  which  we  may  slay  our  enemies. 
Help  us  to  destroy  them."  This  petition  pleased  the  bearer  of  the  Sun 
God  and  he  gave  them  clothing  and  a  number  of  weapons  which  would 
enable  them  to  accomplish  what  they  desired.  He  took  from  the  pegs 
where  they  hung  around  the  room  and  gave  to  each  a  hat,  a  shirt,  leggins, 
moccasins,  all  made  of  iron,  a  chain-lightning  arrow,  a  sheet-lightning 
arrow,  a  sunbeam  arrow,  a  rainbow  arrow,  and  a  great  stone-knife  or 
knife-club.  "These  are  what  we  want,"  said  the  boys.  They  put  on  the 
clothes  of  iron,  and  streaks  of  lightning  shot  from  every  joint. 

After  more  trials  of  their  shrewdness  and  powers  of  perception,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  Sun  God  carried  them  through  the  heavens,  he  finally, 
after  making  them  point  out  the  place  where  they  lived,  spread  out  a 
streak  of  lightning  on  which  he  shot  down  the  children  to  the  summit  of 
Mount  San  Mateo.  Here  four  holy  people  told  them  all  about  Yeitso. 


i94  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

They  said  that  he  showed  himself  every  day  three  times  on  the  mountains 
before  he  came  down,  and  when  he  showed  himself  for  the  fourth  time 
he  descended  from  the  mountain  to  drink;  that,  when  he  stooped  down  to 
drink,  one  hand  rested  on  the  mountain  and  the  other  on  the  high  hills 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  while  his  feet  stretched  as  far  away  as 
a  man  could  walk  between  sunrise  and  noon.  This  was  the  opportunity 
the  boys  wanted.  While  waiting,  however,  they  decided  to  try  one  of 
the  lightning  arrows  which  their  father  had  given  them.  When  they  shot 
it,  it  made  a  great  cleft  in  the  side  of  Mount  San  Mateo,  where  it  remains 
to  this  day,  and  one  of  the  brothers  said  to  the  other:  "We  cannot  suffer 
in  combat  while  we  have  such  weapons  as  these." 

Soon  they  heard  the  sounds  of  thunderous  footsteps,  and  they  beheld 
the  head  of  Yeitso  peering  over  a  high  hill  in  the  east;  it  was  withdrawn 
in  a  moment.  Soon  after,  the  monster  raised  his  head  and  chest  over  a 
hill  in  the  south,  and  remained  a  little  longer  in  sight  than  when  he  was 
in  the  east.  Later  he  displayed  his  body  to  the  waist  over  a  hill  in  the 
west;  and  lastly  he  showed  himself  down  to  the  knees  over  a  mountain  in 
the  north.  Then  he  descended,  came  to  the  edge  of  the  lake,  and  laid 
down  a  basket  which  he  was  accustomed  to  carry.  He  stooped  down  to 
drink,  and  so  frightful  was  his  appearance  that  it  made  the  boys  afraid, 
but  by  and  by  their  courage  came  back  and  they  taunted  the  giant  when  he 
made  a  threat  that  he  was  going  to  eat  them.  The  Wind  (which  in  Navaho 
mythology  is  a  personification),  in  his  kindness  towards  the  boys,  gave 
them  warning  as  to  the  treacherous  acts  contemplated  by  Yeitso,  and 
made  it  possible  for  them  to  dodge  the  lightning  bolts  that  he  rapidly 
hurled  at  them  one  after  another.  Escaping  the  giant's  arrows,  the 
brothers  had  time  to  put  their  own  lightning  arrows  into  place,  pull  the 
bow-string  taut,  and  fire.  Four  times  did  the  elder  brother  shoot,  and  when 
the  fourth  arrow  struck  the  giant,  it  brought  him  to  the  ground,  flat  upon 
his  face,  his  arms  and  legs  outstretched.  As  he  lay  there,  the  younger 
brother  stepped  up  and  scalped  him,  and  then  they  cut  off  his  head  and 
threw  it  away,  where  it  may  be  seen  to  this  day. 

The  blood  from  the  body  flowed  in  a  great  stream  down  the  valley, 
and  the  boys  stood  watching  it  with  no  thought  of  danger  until  their  friend, 
Wind,  told  them  that  it  was  flowing  in  the  direction  of  the  home  of  another 
alien  god  and  that  if  it  reached  that  far  Yeitso  would  come  to  life  again. 
Then  the  elder  brother  took  his  great  stone-knife,  which  had  magic  power, 
and  drew  a  line  with  it  across  the  valley.  When  the  blood  reached  this 
line^it  piled  itself  high  until  it  began  to  flow  in  another  direction.  Here 
again  was  danger,  for  Wind  whispered  that  it  was  flowing  towards  the 
home  of  another  alien  god  known  as  "  Bear  That  Pursues,"  and  that  if  it 
reached  this  far  Yeitso  would  come  to  life  again.  Again  the  elder  brother 


FIG.  244. 
A  Hopi  Weaver  at  Sichomovi. 


FIG.  245. 
A  Hopi  Weaver  at  Oraibi. 


FIG.  246. 

Hopi   Ceremonial   Sash,  and  Woman's 
Sash  or  Belt. 


FIG.  248. 

Hopi  Priests.     Method  of  Wearing  Cere- 

monial   Sash  or   Kilt   in   the 

Snake  Dance. 


FIG.  247. 

Hopi    Weaving    Ceremonial 
Sash. 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NAVAHO  195 

drew  a  line  with  his  knife  on  the  ground  and  again  the  blood  piled  up  and 
stopped  flowing,  and  that  is  the  reason  the  blood  of  Yeitso  fills  all  the 
valley  today,  the  high  cliffs  of  black  rock  that  you  see  being  the  place  where 
the  blood  piled  up  after  the  elder  brother  had  drawn  the  line  with  his 
magic  knife. 

This  is  but  a  taste  of  hundreds,  possibly  thousands,  of  pages  that 
might  be  given  of  Navaho  lore. 


Ill 

Navaho  Land 

NAVAHO  LAND  is  not  a  land  of  cultivated  areas,  of  smiling  fields 
in  fertile  valleys,  where  the  homes  of  happy  and  prosperous  people, 
surrounded  by  merry  and  boisterous  children,  look  out  at  you  through 
the  leafage  of  fruit-laden  trees.  No!  no!  Picturesque,  certainly,  it  is 
in  places;  wild,  rugged,  and  fantastic  in  others;  but,  as  a  rule,  it  is  not 
alluring  to  those  who  look  for  pretty,  cultivated,  refined  landscapes.  A 
taste  of  Navaho  land  scenery  may  be  had  in  riding  on  the  main  line  of  the 
Santa  Fe  Railway  going  to  California  on  the  border-line  between  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona.  There  are  giant  cliffs  of  different  colored  sand- 
stones, some  of  the  rocks  having  fallen  in  vast  boulder-like  masses. 
Between  these  cliffs  extend  great  stretches  of  valley  lands  in  which  sage- 
brush and  wild  grasses  grow  in  abundance. 

In  riding  out  to  St.  Michaels,  Ganado,  and  Chin  Lee  from  Gallup 
station,  one  gains  a  reasonable  conception  of  this  tumbled  and  upheaved 
land.  First  the  road  is  fairly  level,  then  there  is  a  sudden  and  steep  uphill. 
On  the  summit  of  this  the  road  begins  a  long,  slow,  and  very  easy  descent. 
Indeed,  it  is  so  easy  that  it  seems  almost  level,  and  appears  a  fairly  smooth 
valley.  Then  there  is  another  brief  and  steep  uphill  beyond  which  another 
slightly  sloping  valley  extends  to  yet  another  uphill,  and  so  on,  for  thirty 
miles  or  more.  Then  we  reach  a  higher  "  divide,"  or  crest,  covered  with 
pinions  —  nut  pines  —  small  pines  (the  large  ones  have  been  cut  out  for 
lumber)  and  junipers,  and  great  sandstone  walls,  vast,  gigantic,  towering, 
appear  before  us.  In  many  regions  these  would  be  deemed  titanic  features, 
and  would  make  a  landscape  famous,  but  here  they  are  so  common  that 
one  takes  a  good  look  and  passes  on.  The  stranger  may  try  climbing 
to  the  top  of  a  cliff  to  get  a  good  outlook,  but  he  soon  grows  tired  of  this 
if  he  travels  further  and  deeper  into  the  reservation. 

The  whole  country  is  elevated,  the  lowest  portions  being  about  4,000 
feet  above  sea  level,  and  the  hilly  parts  from  6,000  to  7,000  feet,  while 
the  mountains  tower  to  9,000  and  10,000  feet.  In  their  legends  the 
Navahos  regard  certain  high  mountains  as  the  boundary  marks  of  their 
country.  Each  of  these  mountains  is  sacred,  and  has  an  important  name. 
To  the  west  is  the  San  Francisco  Range  (seen  from  Flagstaff,  OIL  the  line 
of  the  Santa  Fe).  This  is  Dokoslid,  but  when  its  sacred  character  is 
referred  to  it  is  Dichilidzil,  the  haliotis  mountain,  because  yellow  is  the 

196 


FIG.  249. 
An  Old  Chimayo  or  Mexican  Blanket. 

Called  by  the  Navahos  nak  hai  bicliidi. 


[PAGE   169] 


FIG.  250. 
Rare  Old  Chimayo  Blanket  in  Black,  Blue,  and  White. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.)  [PAGE   169] 


NAVAHO  LAND  197 

sacred  color  of  the  West.  Sisnajin  —  the  woman's  standing  black  belt, 
or  Pelado  Peak,  is  the  sacred  mountain  of  the  East,  and  its  ceremonial 
name  is  Yolgaidzil —  the  white  bead  mountain.  Mount  Taylor  —  or  as  the 
Mexicans  call  it,  Mount  San  Mateo  —  is  the  sacred  mountain  of  the  South. 
Ordinarily  it  is  Tsadzil,  the  giant  tongue  (so  called  because  one  of  its  vast 
lava  flows  seems  like  a  vast  out-thrust  tongue),  but  ceremonially  it  is 
Yodotlizhidzil,  the  blue  turquoise  mountain.  Debentsa,  the  mountain  of 
the  sheep  —  or  the  San  Juan  mountain  of  the  whites  —  is  the  sacred  moun- 
tain of  the  North,  and  it  is  then  Bashzhinidzil,  or  the  cannel-coal  mountain, 
black  being  the  color  of  the  North. 

According  to  their  origin-legends,  these  sacred  mountains  were 
brought  from  the  lower  worlds  and  placed  in  their  present  positions  by 
the  First  Man.  In  their  sacred  sand-paintings  these  mountains  figure 
largely  and  can  always  be  told  by  their  location  and  the  colors  by  which 
they  are  represented. 

Now  and  again  great  sweeps  of  country  are  presented  which  are  prac- 
tically bare,  barren,  desolate  desert,  with  almost  unclad  hills  rising  from 
the  plains  and  destroying  the  otherwise  distressing  monotony.  Yet  there 
are  many  mountains  actually  in  the  reservation,  as,  for  instance,  the 
Luckachuchai  Mountains,  so  named  from  the  Navaho  word  which  sig- 
nifies "the  white  reed  patches."  These  are  at  the  northwestern  end.  In 
the  central  part  is  the  Tunicha  Range  (large  water),  and  the  southeastern 
end,  the  Chuska,  or  Chusca  Range  (white  spruce).  There  are  also  a  few 
isolated  mountains,  or  groups,  as  the  Carrizos  (mountains  surrounded  by 
mountains),  and  the  Black  Mountains  in  the  West.  Not  far  from  the 
junction  of  the  San  Juan  River  with  the  Colorado,  is  Navaho  Mountain, 
which,  on  a  clear  day,  can  be  seen  from  El  Tovar  hotel  porch  at  the  Grand 
Canyon. 

On  these  hilly  slopes  the  pinion  grows  naturally  in  abundance,  and 
its  nut  is  one  of  the  crops  of  the  Navaho  which  he  is  slowly  beginning 
to  use  to  his  financial  advantage.  The  day  before  this  present  writing  I 
stood  and  saw  a  wagon-load  of  pinion  nuts  unloaded  at  a  Navaho  trading- 
store  on  the  reservation.  There  was  over  a  ton  of  the  nuts  and  the  Indian 
received  about  seven  cents  per  pound  for  them.  A  week  or  two  earlier  I 
had  seen  three  carloads  of  these  nuts  shipped  on  the  railway.  The  pinion 
nut  of  these  regions  is  of  the  same  family  as  the  pinola  of  Italy,  but  is 
much  richer  and  sweeter.  Experts  tell  us  it  abounds  in  proteids,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  nourishing  of  muscle  foods.  It  certainly  is  the  most 
delicious  and  tasty  of  all  nuts.  Unfortunately,  the  crop  in  the  Navaho 
country  is  uncertain,  there  being  a  good  yield  but  once  every  five  to  seven 
years.  Of  course  it  receives  no  cultivation  or  care  whatever,  and  the 
traders  never  seem  to  have  considered  the  advisability  of  trying  cultiva- 


i98  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

tion,  even  though  it  went  no  further  than  dry  farming.  There  is  too  little 
water  in  the  Navaho  country  to  allow  for  irrigation,  even  were  it  desirable 
with  the  pinion,  a  matter  upon  which  I  know  nothing. 

Yet  if  this  could  be  made  a  reliable  crop  with  a  little  extra  labor, 
what  a  profitable  yield  these  nature-planted  trees  would  afford.  Another 
thirrg,  as  yet  the  Navaho  traders  have  learned  no  way  of  easy  shelling 
these'  nuts,  and  to  most  people  this  is  so  slow  and  tedious  a  task  that 
they  will  forego  the  pleasure  of  eating  the  nut  rather  than  be  bothered 
with  it.  Unshelled,  the  nuts  are  worth,  probably,  from  nine  to  twelve 
cents  per  pound.  Shelled,  they  would  be  worthy  fully  twenty-five  cents^  to 
thirty  cents  per  pound.  The  shells  are  exceedingly  light,  not  weighing 
more,  I  should  assume,  than  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of  the  nut  itself. 

This  is  the  only  natural  crop,  as  far  as  I  know,  upon  which  any  of 
the  Navahos  rely.  They  raise  some  corn,  but  use  all  they  grow,  hence 
commercially,  corn-raising  scarcely  counts  with  them. 

The  high  elevation,  the  want  of  water,  and  the  general  climatic  con- 
ditions are  not  favorable  to  agriculture  or  pomoculture,  for  while  it  is  hot 
in  summer  the  nights  are  generally  cool,  and  the  time  for  maturing  crops 
short.  Hence,  the  Navahos  have  had  to  turn  to  other  sources  of  wealth, 
and  their  land  affording  fairly  good  pasturage,  it  seemed  as  if  a  kind  fate 
had  turned  their  attention  to  sheep-grazing,  wool-raising,  and  blanket- 
weaving;  for,  by  making  a  specialty  of  these  industries,  they  have  sprung 
in  a  few  years  into  a  prosperity  that  makes  them,  from  their  standpoint,  a 
rich  and  independent  nation. 

While  much  of  Navaho  land  seems  to  be  desert,  there  are,  however, 
great  stretches  of  a  splendid  growth  of  white  pine  on  the  Chuska  Range, 
and  there  are  forests  of  the  red  cedar  (Juniperus  virginianus),  and  west- 
ern juniper  (J.  occidentalis)  on  the  lower  levels.  Patches  of  scrub-oak 
are  to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  mountains,  and  in  the  canyons  cotton- 
woods,  box-elders,  aspen,  alder,  walnut,  and  peach  thrive  abundantly. 

Through  some  of  the  mountainous  plateaus,  deep-gorged,  tortuously 
winding  canyons  have  been  cut  by  corrosion  or  erosion,  and  through  these 
the  mountain  rains,  and  the  water  of  the  melted  snows  are  drained  out 
into  the  valleys.  The  result  is  the  Navaho  reservation  is  not  less  noted 
for  its  canyons  than  its  deserts  and  mountains. 

One  of  the  most  world-famed  of  these  is  the  Canyon  de  Chelly,  a 
foolish  (apparently  Frenchified)  spelling  of  the  Navaho  name  for  canyon, 
tsegi.  This  is  known  because  of  the  wonderful  cliff-dwellings  that  have 
been  discovered  here,  some  of  which  rank  as  the  most  perfect  specimens  of 
aboriginal  stone-work  in  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States.  Close  by 
are  the  Canyon  del  Muerto,  so-called  from  the  many  mummified  human 
bodies  found  in  the  cliff-ruins,  and  Monument  Canyon,  the  entrance  to 


FIG.  251. 
Handsome  Chimayo  Blanket. 

(Made  expressly  for  Rev.  G.  Haelterman, 
Santa  Cruz,   N.   M.) 


NAVAHO  LAND  199 

which  is  made  dignified  and  impressive  by  a  giant  mass  of  rock  that  stands 
detached  from  the  main  wall  as  a  lone  sentinel  guarding  the  gateway. 

In  1912  I  made  a  visit  to  these  canyons  while  completing  my  book — 
The  Prehistoric  Cliff  Dwellings  of  the  American  Southwest  —  and  to  the 
pages  of  that  book  I  refer  the  reader  for  further  impressions  of  these 
three  wonderfully  historic  and  scenic  places.  There  are  many  other  cliff- 
dwellings  found  within  the  boundaries  of  the  reservation,  and  scores  of 
ruins  of  houses,  both  singly  and  in  groups,  and  even  pueblos.  All  along 
the  Little  Colorado  River  many  of  these  are  to  be  found,  and  the  Chaco 
Canyon  country  is  almost  as  famous  as  Canyon  de  Chelly  for  its  cliff  and 
house  ruins,  which  were  first  described  over  thirty  years  ago  \^$cribner's 
Magazine.  Of  some  of  these  ruins  Dr.  Edgar  L.  Hewett,  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Archaeology  at  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  thus  writes: 

Another  group  of  ancient  towns,  less  picturesque  in  situation  but  of  equal  interest, 
is  that  of  the  Chaco  Canyon  in  Northwestern  New  Mexico.  These  great  houses, 
standing  in  the  open,  some  five  stories  high,  were  built  of  sandstone  blocks,  in  some 
cases  so  arranged  in  courses  of  varying  thickness  as  to  produce  decorative  effects.  They 
had  no  natural  security  of  situation  on  high  mesas  or  in  deep  canyons,  but  stood  in  the 
open  valley  and  on  the  sandy  plain,  entirely  unprotected  save  by  their  own  massive 
walls.  Best  known  of  all  in  this  group  is  Pueblo  Bonito,  a  huge  structure  five  stories 
high,  semi-circular  in  form,  its  walls  still  standing  to  a  height  of  over  forty  feet.  Not 
far  away  are  the  ruins  of  Chettro  Kettle,  Hungo  Pavie,  Wijiji,  and  Penasco  Blanco. 
This  famous  group  of  ruins  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  desolate  plain,  the  Navaho  Desert, 
now  almost  devoid  of  water  and  incapable  of  supporting  any  population  except  of 
wandering  Navahos. 

Close  to  the  San  Francisco  and  San  Mateo  Mountains  are  vast  areas 
of  lava  —  flows  that  altogether  surpass  in  extent  and  wildness  the  classic 
lava-flows  of  the  South  of  France,  and  of  which  the  legends  are  told 
referred  to  in  a  former  chapter. 

When  one  gives  time  to  the  study  of  the  Navaho  language  he  finds 
himself  well  repaid  by  the  poetic  descriptions  that  are  used,  for  instance, 
in  the  names  of  places.  One  is  called  "  Where  the  Cranes  Stand,"  another 
"The  Hawk's  Nest."  Here  are  others,  "Where  Water  Flows  in  the 
Darkness  under  the  Rock,"  "  Where  Water  Flows  out  of  a  Canyon,"  "  The 
Buttes  that  Stand  like  Twin  Stars,"  "The  Baby  Rock,"  "The  Small  Can- 
yon Meadow,"  "Where  They  Fall  into  the  Pit  of  Water."  This  latter 
name  is  given  to  a  pool  in  the  Black  Mountain  region  much  frequented  by 
game.  Owing  to  the  rocks  of  the  pool  sloping  inward  towards  the  center 
and  not  affording  sufficient  foothold,  the  thirsty  animals  are  entrapped 
somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  the  early  game-pit-traps  of  the  natives. 
Here  are  a  few  more  names:  "The  Sumach  Spring  in  the  Black  Moun- 
tains," "Rough  Rock  Spring,"  "Antelope  Spring,"  "The  Water  Flows 
through  the  Rock,"  "Tangled  Waters,"  "Fringed  Waters,"  "Slim 


200  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Water,"   "Crystal  Water  Flows  Out,"   "Braided  Willows,"   "Winged 
Rock,"  "Red  Round  Rock,"  "The  Conical  Sand  Dune,"  "Beaver's  Eye 

Spring." 

In  the  reading  of  but  one  Navaho  legend  will  be  found  the  following 
rich  list  of  poetic  names:  "One-eyed  Water,"  "Rock  Sticking  Up," 
"Beautiful  Under  the  Cottonwoods,"  "White  Standing  Rock,"  "Erect 
Cat-tail  Rushes,"  "  Clay  Hill,"  "  Scattered  Springs,"  "  Narrow  Water," 
"Beautiful  in  the  Mountains,"  "Circle  of  Red  Stones,"  "Wind  Circles 
Around  a  Rock,"  "Narrow  Sand  Hills,"  "Valley  Surrounded  on  All 
Sides  by  Hills,"  "Rock  That  Bends  Back,"  "Big  Oaks,"  "Last  Moun- 
tain," "  Mountain  Comes  Down  Steep,"  "  Four  Doorways  Under  a  Moun- 
tain," "Where  Yellow  Streak  Runs  Down,"  "Where  They  Came  To- 
gether," "House  of  Rock  Crystal,"  "  Broad  Cherry  Trees,"  "  Leaf  Moun- 
tain," "White  Water  Running  Across,"  "Brown  Earth  Water,"  "Much 
Grease  Wood,"  "Where  Two  White  Rocks  Lie,"  "Radiating  White 
Streaks,"  "Lone  Juniper  Standing  Between  Cliffs,"  "Woods  on  One  Side," 
"Standing  Rock  Above,"  "Sheep  Promontory,"  "Sheep  Lying  Down," 
"  Rock  Cracked  in  Two,"  "  Hill  Surrounded  with  Young  Spruce  Trees," 
"White  Ground,"  "Dipping  Rocks,"  "Cold  Water,"  "Black  Moun- 
tains," and  "Hard  Earth." 

With  such  a  splendid  catalogue  of  place-names,  who  shall  say  the 
Navahos  have  no  eye  for  beauty  and  no  poetic  facility  in  describing  it. 

As  already  shown,  inclination  and  interest  have  led  the  Navahos  to 
take  the  fullest  possible  opportunity  of  availing  themselves  of  the  grazing 
features  of  their  reserve.  Not  hundreds  or  thousands,  but  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  sheep  are  found  in  bands  wherever  grazing  and  water  are 
assured.  One  will  pass  half  a  hundred  bands  of  several  hundred  each  in 
a  day's  journey.  These  are  always  in  the  charge  of  the  women,  or  girls 
and  boys  of  adult  years. 

As  a  sheep-herder  the  Navaho  woman  has  no  superior  in  the  world. 
She  shows  patience,  skill,  and  real  tenderness  in  her  dealings  with  her  flock. 
Indeed,  on  two  or  three  occasions  I  have  known  of  Navaho  women  suck- 
ling at  their  own  breasts  new-born  lambs  whose  mothers  had  died.  It  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  see  them  ahead  of  their  flocks,  the  sheep  following 
contentedly,  just  as  is  described  by  David  the  Psalmist. 

The  herds  are  generally  taken  out  in  the  morning,  guided  all  day, 
kept  moving  to  better  pasture,  and  to  water,  and  then  returned  to  the 
corral  at  night.  Owing  to  the  increasing  number  of  the  flocks  and  the 
constant  treading  down  of  the  grass,  the  pasture  is  growing  scarcer  each 
year,  and  this  is  going  to  add  ere  long  to  the  problem  the  Indian 
Department  will  have  to  solve  regarding  the  Navahos. 

As  yet  the  Navahos  have  not  seen  the  wisdom  of  preparing  for  the 


FIG.  252. 
Old  Chimayo,  Black,  White,  and  Blue. 

(Fred  Harvey  Collection.) 

The  usual  type  of  old  Chimayo  is  plain  blue  and  white  stripes, 
though  diversified  in  the  arrangement  of  the  stripes.  The  type  here 
illustrated  is  rare,  and  the  design  is  really  derived  from  the  Saltillo 
blanket  of  Old  Mexico.  The  Chimayos  are  part  Indian  and  part  Mexi- 
can, and  their  style  of  weaving  and  designs  can  be  traced  to  both. 

[PAGE   171] 


FIG.  253. 
Rare  Old  Chimayo  of  Simple  Design. 

(Author's  Collection.) 


NAVAHO  LAND  201 

winter.  They  cut  no  hay,  hence  when  the  pasture  is  gone,  the  herds  must 
do  the  best  they  can  on  the  sage-brush  and  what  withered  grass  they  can 
find;  or,  when  it  becomes  worse  still,  the  herders  cut  pinion  and  cedar 
branches  for  them  to  gather  therefrom  what  scant  nutriment  they  can  find. 

Often,  if  one  approaches  these  bands  of  sheep  unseen,  he  will  hear 
the  loud  and  musical,  though  peculiar  and  characteristic,  voices  of  the 
herders  raised  in  song.  They  are  great  singers,  and  singing  plays  a 
remarkably  important  part  in  their  ceremonial  and  religious  life. 

Experts  tell  us  that  many  improvements  are  to  be  desired  in  the 
Navaho  sheep-herds,  yet  they  are  beginning  to  see  that  better  stock  means 
better  prices.  Hence,  some  of  the  wiser  Navahos  are  killing  off  their  old 
rams  and  selecting  new  stock  with  judicious  care.  They  are  also  separating 
their  herds  of  sheep  and  goats.  Hitherto  this  has  not  been  done,  to  the 
immense  detriment  of  the  herds.  A  real  Navaho  goat,  two  years  old, 
will  give  a  pelt  weighing  about  two  to  two  and  a  half  pounds.  It  is  worth 
about  forty  cents  per  pound.  This  makes  the  pelt  worth  from  seventy- 
five  cents  to  one  dollar.  The  meat  is  good,  and,  properly  cooked,  is  both 
tender  and  tasty,  though  slightly  "stronger"  than  ordinary  mutton.  The 
animal  itself,  too,  is  hardier  than  the  sheep,  can  stand  drought  better,  and 
is  less  liable  to  disease.  The  goat-skin  is  largely  used  for  book-binding 
purposes,  much  of  the  so-called  morocco  and  French  morocco  being  noth- 
ing but  our  Navaho  friends'  goat-pelt  under  an  aristocratic  name.  On  the 
other  hand,  sheep  pelts  are  worth  but  from  eight  to  ten  cents  per  pound, 
and  a  two-year-old  sheep  will  give  a  pelt  weighing  three  to  four  pounds. 
Yet,  sheep  for  the  white  market  are  more  profitable,  as  on  the  hoof  they 
bring  nearly  twice  as  much  as  goats  of  the  same  weight. 

The  traders  and  the  government  officials  are  now  trying  to  show  the 
Navahos  that  it  is  to  their  best  interest  to  keep  sheep  and  goats  apart,  to 
kill  or  sell  off  as  soon  as  they  can  all  cheap  cross-breeds,  to  kill  their  poor 
stock  rams  and  buy  those  of  pure  breeds,  and  breed  them  only  with  sheep 
of  assured  wool-giving  qualities,  when  wool  is  desired,  and  with  good 
mutton  producers,  when  they  are  to  be  sold  on  the  hoof  to  the  white 
packers. 


IV 

Reliable  Dealers  in  Navaho  Blankets 

IT  IS  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  every  purchaser  of  a  Navaho  blanket 
will  be  interested  enough  to  go  as  deeply  into  its  history  and  manufac- 
ture as  has  the  author.  Nor  can  he  expect  to  absorb  in  a  brief  perusal 
of  a  few  pages  sufficient  knowledge  to  make  him  an  expert  in  judging  the 
value  of  any  blanket  that  may  be  offered  to  him  if  he  place  himself  in  the 
position  of  a  possible  purchaser.  But  I  can  do  such  possible  purchaser, 
who  values  my  judgment  and  word,  a  great  and  lasting  service  by  placing 
him  in  direct  touch  with  dealers  who  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  all 
phases  of  the  business,  and  whose  reliability  many  years  of  experience  have 
proven  to  be  unquestioned. 

When  I  suggested  the  introduction  of  this  chapter  to  my  publishers, 
they  felt  considerable  hesitancy  as  to  its  propriety.  They  argued  it  was 
not  customary,  and  it  might  seem  to  savor  of  invidiousness.  My  replies  are 
that  new  conditions  require  new  methods  of  meeting  them.  High  class 
newspapers  and  magazines  have  long  ago  adopted  a  system  of  genuine 
helpfulness  towards  their  readers  in  guaranteeing  the  reliability  and 
honesty  of  their  advertisers.  In  this  case  there  is  no  advertising,  but  my 
readers  are  entitled  to  the  results  of  my  experience  and  knowledge  as  far 
as  I  can  give  them.  The  fact  that  there  are  unreliable  dealers  in  Navaho 
blankets,  who  cheat  and  deceive  their  customers,  and  that,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  are  those  whose  integrity  and  knowledge  are  unquestioned, 
is  my  justification  for  calling  specific  attention  to  the  latter. 

As  for  the  possibility  of  involving  the  publisher  in  any  trouble  I 
hereby  personally  agree  to  refund  to  any  purchaser  any  sum  he  may  lose 
through  misrepresentation  or  dishonest  treatment  at  the  hands  of  any  of 
the  dealers  herein  named. 

Foremost  among  those  to  whom  the  collector  must  turn  for  the  rarest, 
choicest,  and  finest  specimens  of  the  Navaho,  Pueblo,  and  Chimayo  weav- 
ers' art  now  on  the  market  is  Fred  Harvey,  whose  principal  blanket  exhibit 
is  at  Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  in  one  portion  of  the  picturesque  Santa  Fe  depot 
offices,  and  hotel,  named  after  Alvarado,  one  of  the  Captains  of  Artillery 
who  accompanied  Coronado  on  his  journey  of  exploration  and  conquest 
of  New  Mexico  in  1540. 

For  a  number  of  years  Fred  Harvey  has  had  collectors  gathering 
up  every  old  blanket  of  superior  worth,  whether  of  Navaho,  Mexican, 

202 


a 

r5 

5 

W> 

A 


RELIABLE  DEALERS  IN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS        203 

Chimayo,  Hopi,  Zuni,  Acoma,  Laguna,  or  Alaskan  origin.  Money  has 
been  no  object,  but  every  good  blanket  must  be  secured.  All  the  leading 
collections  not  already  in  museums  have  also  been  gathered  in,  first  one, 
then  another,  until  the  Harvey  collection  is  notable.  Several  of  his  choicest 
specimens  are  illustrated  herein. 

Those  who  travel  on  the  transcontinental  line  of  the  "Santa  Fe," 
as  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railway  is  popularly  known,  will  need 
no  assurance  as  to  the  integrity  of  Fred  Harvey.  Ever  since  the  railway 
has  been  in  operation  he  has  had  charge  of  the  eating  house  and  dining- 
car  system,  and  his  excellent  service  has  made  his  name  world-famed  and 
synonymous  with  the  best  of  foods,  cooked  and  served  in  the  best  of  style. 
The  same  business  principles  that  have  made  the  Fred  Harvey  hotels,  eat- 
ing houses,  lunch  counters,  and  dining-car  service  famed  among  travelers 
have  already  built  up  the  largest  business  in  Indian  blankets,  baskets,  pot- 
tery, and  curios  in  the  world,  and  prospective  purchasers  may  fully  rely 
upon  everything  that  they  may  secure  either  at  Albuquerque  or  any  of 
his  branch  establishments  being  genuine,  and  as  represented. 

Elsewhere  I  have  referred  to.  the  work  of  C.  N.  Cotton  and  John 
Lorenzo  Hubbell  in  furthering  the  development  of  the  blanket-weaving  art 
among  the  Navahos.  These  men  are  still  in  the  blanket  business,  the  former 
as  a  dealer,  purchasing  from  the  traders,  while  the  latter  still  carries  on 
the  business  directly  with  the  Indians  themselves.  In  1884  Mr.  Cotton, 
who  had  been  the  station  agent  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  at  Wingate, 
N.  M.,  bought  an  interest  in  Mr.  Hubbell's  Indian  trading  post  at  Ganado, 
Arizona,  which  is  some  sixty  miles  northwest  from  Gallup,  N.  M.  In 
those  days  the  trade  for  blankets  was  small  and  insignificant.  In  1884  all 
the  new  firm  secured  was  two  small  bales  of  common  blankets  weighing 
not  more  than  from  300  to  400  pounds,  the  designs  being  of  the  plain 
straight-line  type.  Saddle  blankets  were  not  purchased  at  all. 

In  1894  Mr.  Cotton  gave  up  the  direct  trading  with  the  Navaho, 
removed  to  Gallup,  N.  M.,  and  ever  since  has  dealt  only  with  the  traders, 
supplying  them  with  all  the  goods  they  need  to  sell  to  the  Indian  and  taking 
in  return  everything  the  traders  secure  from  them.  The  special  feature  of 
his  blanket  trade,  therefore,  has  been  to  secure  a  market.  Each  year 
the  demand  for  good  blankets  has  increased.  The  firm  name  is  "The 
C.  N.  Cotton  Company,"  Gallup,  N.  M.,  and  it  disposes  of  its  blankets 
only  at  wholesale.  The  first  illustrated  and  descriptive  catalogue  of  the 
Navaho  blanket  ever  issued,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  writing  for  Mr.  Cotton 
nearly  twenty  years  ago.  He  and  Mr.  Hubbell  can  truthfully  be  called 
the  fathers  of  the  business  among  the  white  race,  and  while  Mr.  Cotton 
is  no  longer  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Hubbell  they  have  a  close  business 
relationship,  and  many  of  the  latter's  finest  blankets  are  purchased  by 


204  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Mr.  Cotton.  So  it  is  with  traders  all  over  the  reservation.  Their  best 
blankets  are  shipped  to  Mr.  Cotton  as  fast  as  the  Indians  bring  them  in. 

Few  men  have  ever  held  so  honored  and  rare  a  position  in  the  esteem 
of  the  Navahos  and  in  relation  to  the  blanket  industry  as  does  John 
Lorenzo  Hubbell,  of  Ganado,  Arizona.  Indeed,  it  would  be  as  impossible 
to  write  truthfully  and  comprehensively  of  the  history  of  the  Navaho 
blanket  and  leave  out  Mr.  HubbelFs  relation  to  it,  as  it  would  be  to  give 
the  history  of  the  phonograph  and  leave  out  the  name  of  Edison.  As  I 
have  shown  in  the  chapter  on  the  Development  of  the  Art,  Mr.  Hubbell 
has  seen  all  the  latter-day  developments  of  blanket-weaving.  He  saw 
the  art  deteriorate,  and  then  set  himself  to  work  to  stem  the  tide  of  igno- 
rance and  carelessness  which  bid  fair  speedily  to  wreck  what  his  far-seeing 
vision  knew  might  be  a  means  of  great  wealth  to  an  industrious  and 
struggling  people.  He  spoke  the  Navaho  language  fluently,  lived  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  reservation  and  was  in  daily  contact  with  some  of  the 
most  progressive  men  and  women  of  the  tribe.  He  took  them  into  his 
office  and  talked  with  them,  one  by  one.  As  rapidly  as  was  possible  he 
eliminated  the  use  of  cotton  warp,  showing  the  weavers  that,  while  its 
substitution  for  the  wool  warps  saved  them  much  time,  it  made  the  blan- 
ket so  much  inferior  that  he  could  not  pay  anything  like  the  same  price 
for  it.  Then  he  eliminated  certain  dyes  from  his  trade.  He  refused  to 
keep  the  colors  that  the  Indians  used  so  recklessly  when  they  had  once 
broken  loose  from  the  old  traditions  of  pure  colors.  Then,  slowly  but 
surely,  he  discouraged  the  use  of  Germantown  yarn,  and  urged  the  thor- 
ough cleaning  and  scouring,  carding,  spinning,  and  dyeing  of  their  own 
wool.  During  all  this  time  he  was  urging  the  weavers  to  higher  endeavor, 
and  giving  special  privileges  and  favors  to  those  who  showed  not  only 
skill  and  originality  of  design,  but  general  acquiescence  in  his  endeavors 
to  improve  the  art.  The  final  result  has  been  that  now  he  has  gathered 
around  him  by  far  the  finest  set  of  weavers  on  the  whole  reservation;  he 
has  found  out  the  class  of  work  best  done  by  certain  women,  and  who  are 
the  "color  artists"  for  the  making  of  that  style  of  fancy  blankets  in 
which  color  plays  the  most  important  part.  Then,  too,  he  has  learned 
from  practical  experience,  what  designs  of  pure  Navaho  origin  please  the 
most  exacting  patrons,  and  these  he  has  had  copied  in  oil  or  water-colors, 
and  they  line  the  walls  of  his  office  by  the  score. 

Hence,  when  a  certain  type  of  blanket  is  needed,  he  can  point  to  the 
design,  or,  if  necessary,  loan  the  painting  of  it  to  the  weaver  to  whom 
he  commits  the  order.  If  this  particular  weaver  fails  as  a  dyer  of  good 
colors,  he  supplies  her  with  wool  he  has  had  dyed  by  some  other  woman 
who  is  a  dyeing  expert.  Thus  he  gains  the  best  kind  of  work,  and  can 
supply  anything  makeable  by  a  Navaho  weaver,  with  sureness,  accuracy, 


RELIABLE  DEALERS  IN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS        205 

skill,  and  speed.  That  his  name  is  synonymous  with  honorable  and  upright 
dealing  goes  without  saying,  for  no  man  can  stand  as  he  does  with  the 
Navahos  without  being — as  the  Indians  would  say  —  "a  walker  on  the 
beautiful  way." 

Another  Gallup,  N.  M.,  firm  that  is  perfectly  reliable  and  trust- 
worthy is  the  C.  C.  Manning  Company.  In  1894  Mr.  Manning  went  to 
the  Navaho  Indian  Agency,  at  Fort  Defiance,  as  Assistant  Engineer  for 
Government  Irrigation  Work  that  was  being  done  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Navahos.  In  the  spring  of  1896  he  left  the  government  service  and 
bought  out  the  reservation  trading  store  of  W.  E.  Weidemeyer,  where  he 
remained  in  daily  contact  with  the  Navahos  for  the  space  of  ten  years.  In 
1906  he  sold  out  and  went  for  a  visit  to  California  and  southern  Arizona, 
but  in  three  years,  longing  for  the  largeness  of  his  Indian  trading  life,  he 
returned  and  repurchased  his  old  store.  Ever  since  then  he  has  been 
engaged  in  the  Navaho  trade,  though  now  his  company  transacts  a  tre- 
mendous wholesale  business  with  the  various  traders  on  the  reservation, 
having  their  large  warehouses,  etc.,  at  Gallup.  During  the  year  1911-12 
they  found  sale  for  Navaho  blankets  for  which  they  had  traded  to  the 
amount  of  forty  thousand  dollars,  independent  of  the  blankets  sold  by 
the  manager  of  their  Navaho  Reservation  store,  who  finds  his  own  market 
and  never  sends  his  supply  in  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  firm. 

While  the  Manning  Company  does  an  almost  exclusively  wholesale 
business,  they  assure  me  that  if  any  would-be  purchaser  wishes  to  write  to 
them  they  will  either  send  such  blankets  as  may  be  desired,  or  will  refer 
the  purchaser  to  one  of  the  Indian  traders  with  whom  they  do  business, 
whose  word  and  goods  may  be  relied  upon.  To  those,  however,  who 
wish  to  purchase  in  quantity,  the  Manning  Company  offer  special  facilities. 
Trading  over  a  large  part  of  the  reservation  and  buying  from  a  score 
or  more  of  those  who  deal  actually  with  the  Indians  they  secure  a  wide 
variety  of  styles,  weaves,  and  designs  that  make  their  stock  an  especially 
desirable  one  to  select  from.  In  addition  to  this,  there  are  a  number  of 
first-class  weavers  who  have  learned  that  this  company  is  willing  to  pay 
them  a  high  price  for  every  superior  blanket  that  is  brought  direct  to  them; 
hence  they  secure  quite  a  number  of  extra  choice  specimens  in  this  manner. 

A  Navaho  trader  who  makes  a  specialty  of  a  mail-order  business  in 
the  finer  grades  of  Indian  blankets,  and  whose  statements  as  to  the  quality 
of  his  goods  may  be  implicitly  relied  upon,  is  J.  A.  Molohon,  Crystal, 
N.  M.  Mr.  Molohon  is  the  successor  by  purchase  of  J.  B.  Moore's  trad- 
ing-store, from  which  a  large  number  of  excellent  blankets  have  been 
sent  out  to  satisfied  customers.  Some  seventeen  years  ago  Mr.  Moore 
entered  the  Indian  trading  business  and  in  his  district  began  to  do  for  the 
Navahos  what  Messrs.  Hubbell  and  Cotton  had  done  in  theirs.  Little 


206  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

by  little  he  succeeded  in  improving  the  products  of  their  looms  by  intro- 
ducing new  ideas  in  preparing  and  dyeing  the  yarn.  He  established  rea- 
sonably fixed  grades  of  qualities  in  which  he  did  an  extensive  business. 
This  was  no  easy  task.  The  Navaho  woman  is  as  conservative  in  many 
respects  as  is  her  husband.  She  changes  slowly.  As  I  have  shown  else- 
where, when  Mr.  Moore  entered  the  field,  the  Navaho  blanket  had  dete- 
riorated and  was  a  discredited  product,  undesirable,  and  largely  unsalable. 
Two  gigantic  barriers,  therefore,  had  to  be  broken  down,  the  one  on  the 
side  of  the  Indians,  the  other  on  the  part  of  the  American  purchaser.  It 
required  courage,  persistence,  and  knowledge  of  the  Navaho  to  change  the 
weavers'  methods,  and  several  years  passed  ere  he  secured  blankets  of  the 
quality  he  desired.  His  methods  were  an  innovation.  To  send  the  wool 
away  and  have  it  scientifically  and  thoroughly  cleansed  and  prepared  for 
dyeing  was  a  great  trouble  and  expense,  but  it  paid  in  the  end. 

Soon  a  few  of  the  more  thorough  weavers  saw  how  much  better  the 
dye  would  "bite  in"  to  this  well-scoured  wool.  They  were  thus  induced  to 
a  more  thorough  cleansing  of  their  wool,  and  when  they  received  a  higher 
price  for  the  blankets  made  of  such  wool,  they  began  to  fall  in  line  with 
Mr.  Moore's  further  suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  their  work.  The 
result  is  the  blankets  from  the  Crystal  weavers  are  highly  desired,  and  as 
Mr.  Molohon  is  equally  particular  with  his  predecessor,  the  business  has 
continued  to  be  carried  on  in  the  old  and  well-established  lines.  The 
Molohon  Company  offers  no  cheap  grade  blankets.  They  have  only  two 
grades  or  classes.  The  first  is  their  "  ER-2O  "  grade,  which  is  made  entirely 
from  specially  scoured  wool,  dyed  in  the  yarn  with  special  dyes  and  care- 
fully prepared  mordants,  so  that  the  fastness  and  truth  of  the  colors  is 
assured.  The  wool  is  then  issued  to  the  weaver  who  has  proven  her 
capacity,  with  general  instructions  as  to  the  kind  of  blanket  desired.  The 
design  is  left  largely  to  her  own  will,  thus  ensuring  the  individual  char- 
acter so  much  desired.  These  blankets  vary  in  size  from  45x76  inches 
to  about  6x9  feet,  but  blankets  of  any  size  may  be  ordered  with  the 
assurance  of  receiving  exactly  the  quality  desired. 

The  Molohon  second,  or  "T-XX"  grades,  are  selected  blankets 
from  those  brought  in  by  the  Indians,  where  there  has  been  no  special 
scouring  or  dyeing  of  the  wool  under  the  trader's  personal  supervision. 
Most  of  these  blankets  come  from  weavers  who  are  earnestly  striving  to 
get  into  the  Molohon  class  of  first-class  weavers,  hence  they  have  an  in- 
centive to  do  their  utmost.  This  results  in  a  higher  class  blanket  than  that 
secured  by  the  indifferent  trader. 

The  address  of  J.  A.  Molohon  &  Co.  is  Crystal,  N.  M. 

Another  of  the  oldest  and  most  reliable  of  Indian  traders  is  the  C.  H. 
Algert  Company,  of  Fruitland,  N.  M.  They  are  wholesale  dealers  only 


RELIABLE  DEALERS  IN  NAVAHO  BLANKETS        207 

and  have  a  large  trade  all  over  the  United  States.  I  first  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Mr.  Algert  over  twenty  years  ago  when  he  was  the  Indian  trader 
at  Tuba  City,  Ariz.  Our  acquaintance  ripened  into  friendship,  and  ever 
since  I  have  had  more  or  less  continuous  dealings  with  him.  A  few  years 
ago  he  took  into  partnership  his  former  clerk  and  assistant,  June  Fautz, 
and  they  removed  to  Fruitland,  N.  M.,  where  their  business  has  consid- 
erably enlarged  as  the  years  have  gone  by.  The  C.  H.  Algert  Company 
does  an  almost  exclusive  business  with  the  traders  of  the  northern  part  of 
the  Reservation,  extending  clear  across  from  New  Mexico  to  California 
and  to  the  borders  of  southern  Colorado,  Utah,  and  Nevada. 

Their  specialty  is  a  good,  reliable  grade  of  standard,  native  wool, 
undyed,  and  outline  blankets,  with  a  steady  supply  of  the  extra  qualities 
of  all  these  types.  It  was  from  Mr.  Algert  that  I  bought  my  first  native 
wool  undyed  blankets,  especially  those  in  the  grays,  blacks,  and  whites, 
and  while  he  was  at  Tuba  City,  he  was  most  conscientious,  constant,  and 
thorough  in  urging  upon  the  weavers  of  his  district  the  improvement  of 
this  class  of  weave.  Indeed,  he  has  done  more  to  promote  the  general 
improvement  of  the  art  in  this  line  than  any  other  trader.  On  several 
occasions  I  have  been  present  at  his  trading-post  when  he  has  gathered 
together  as  many  as  two  or  three  thousand  Navahos,  not  only  to  give 
them  a  good  time  in  their  feats  of  horsemanship,  etc.,  but  also  to  foster 
among  the  weavers  a  desire  to  improve  the  quality  of  their  blankets. 

Since  his  removal  to  Fruitland,  he  has  discontinued  immediate  deal- 
ings with  the  Indians  and  deals  only  with  the  traders,  supplying  them  with 
everything  that  they  need  in  exchange  for  the  blankets,  etc.,  sent  in.  His 
firm  handles  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  blankets  each  year,  and  is 
known  for  its  square  and  honorable  dealing. 

Elsewhere  I  have  referred  to  the  endeavors  made  by  the  Hyde 
Exploring  Expedition  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  Navahos  and 
further  their  interests  by  pushing  the  sale  of  their  blankets  on  a  large 
scale.  Their  successor  was  the  Benham  Indian  Trading  Company,  which 
finally  concentrated  all  its  efforts  in  its  chief  store  on  South  Broadway, 
Los  Angeles,  California.  For  many  years  it  conducted  a  successful 
business  here,  the  direction  of  affairs  being  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  A.  M. 
Benham,  whose  responsible  assistant  was  Mr.  L.  L.  Burns,  who  held 
an  interest  in  the  firm.  At  Mr.  Benham's  death  some  two  or  three 
years  ago,  Mr.  Burns  bought  out  all  other  interests  and  organized  the 
Burns  Indian  Trading  Company,  which  has  carried  on  the  work  of  its 
predecessors  on  the  same  high  plane.  Like  Fred  Harvey,  Mr.  Burns 
has  scoured  the  country  for  old  and  rare  blankets  of  all  good  weavers, 
and  many  collections  owe  some  of  their  most  valued  specimens  to  him. 
Especially  in  rare  bayetas  and  old  Chimayos  has  he  been  successful. 


208  INDIAN  BLANKETS  AND  THEIR  MAKERS 

Mr.  Burns  has  also  accomplished  for  the  Chimayo  blanket  what  Mr. 
Hubbell  and  Mr.  Molohon  are  doing  for  the  Navaho.  He  brought 
several  Chimayo  weavers  and  their  looms  to  Los  Angeles  and  there  per- 
sonally supervised  their  work.  The  Burns  Company  deals  in  every  kind 
of  genuine  Indian  goods,  and  sells  at  both  wholesale  and  retail.  It  also 
makes  a  specialty  of  mail  orders. 

Recently  Mr.  Burns  has  found  a  new  and  congenial  field  for  his 
laboriously-acquired  Indian  knowledge.  As  is  well  known,  Los  Angeles 
is  the  home  of  moving  picture  film  makers.  Thousands  of  feet  of  Indian 
plays  are  made  monthly.  Mr.  Burns  has  organized  the  Western  Costume 
Company,  and  he  and  his  associates  give  expert  technical  advice  and 
practical  assistance  in  the  correct  costuming  and  staging  of  Indian  and 
western  plays.  They  have  a  large  stock  of  blankets,  squaw  dresses,  etc., 
such  as  are  described  in  these  pages,  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact  to  note 
the  development  of  this  new  industry  in  connection  with  Indian  Blankets 
and  Their  Makers. 

In  conclusion:  While  mine  is  a  busy  life  and  I  have  no  such  com- 
modity as  "spare  time,"  I  shall  always  be  glad  to  place  my  services 
at  the  disposal  of  any  one  interested  in  securing  a  collection  of  Navaho 
blankets  of  a  superior  order. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Alaskans  and  blanket  weaving,  15,  16 
Algert,  C.  H.,  Company,  160;  reliable  dealers, 

206,  207 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  N.  Y., 

collection  of  blankets,  32,  35,  37,  156,  164; 

specimen  of  weaving  in  colors,  80 
Amerinds,  VI,  9,  17 
Aniline  dyes  and  dyeing,  48,  55,  65,  66 

Baize,  English  (Spanish  bay  eta),  26-28 

Bartlett,  John  Russell,  on  the  Navaho  and  his 
blanket,  22 

Basketry,  origin  of,  VII;  baskets  as  human 
documents,  72,  73;  two-faced  baskets,  114; 
Kachina  baskets,  139 

Bayeta  and  the  bayeta  blanket,  25-36,  39,  40, 
51;  dyeing,  29,  30;  squaw  dresses,  39,  40, 
117,  118 

Belts,  garters,  and  hair  bands,  130-135 

Benham,  A.  M.,  and  J.  W.,  Indian  traders, 
52,  207 

Berard,  Father,  quoted  on  Blanket  designs,  72, 
120,  126-129;  classifies  names  of  blankets, 
116-119;  different  styles  of  blanket-weaving, 
III,  112;  blessing  of  the  hogan,  6;  native 
dyes  and  dyeing,  66-69;  Navaho  name,  182, 
183;  Navaho  census,  181 ;  Navaho  religion, 
184-188;  present-day  blankets,  59,  155 

Birth  and  growth  of  the  art  of  Navaho 
blanket-weaving,  8-19 

Blankets  and  aniline  dyes,  48,  55,  65,  66; 
bayeta,  25-36,  39,  40,  51;  "chief's,"  32,  36; 
Chimayo,  167-173;  classification,  143-158; 
cleaning,  174;  color  significance  and  symbol- 
ism, 60-64;  common,  147-149;  designs,  ori- 
gin, and  symbolism,  72-102,  on  modern 
blankets,  120-129,  146;  dyes  and  dyeing, 
28-33,  39,  65-71,  170;  early  history  of  the 
Navaho,  20-24;  extras,  153-1555  German- 
town,  157,  158;  human  documents,  72,  80, 
145;  imitation,  159-163;  Kachina,  139-142; 
names  of,  116-119;  native  wools,  old  style, 
37,  38;  native  wools,  fancy,  155-1571  native 
wools,  undyed,  151-153;  outline,  136-138; 
output,  VIII,  58;  rabbit-skin,  16;  reliable 
dealers,  202-208;  song  of  blessing  of,  45; 
squaw  dress,  39-44;  standard,  149-151; 
styles  of  weaving,  110-112;  symbolism  in, 
60-64,  72-81;  two-faced,  113-115;  unique  in 
the  world,  VI;  variety  of  Navaho,  146;  Yei, 
139-142 

Blanket-weaving,  bayeta,  25-36;  birth  and 
growth  of  the  art,  8-19,  112;  designs  in, 
72-102,  146,  in  modern  work,  120-129;  list 
of  designs,  126-129;  deterioration  of  the 
art,  46-50;  importance  of  weave,  145;  im- 
proving the  art,  51-59 ;  looms  described, 
103-108;  mythical  origin  of,  10;  outline 


blanket  work,  136;  styles  of  weaving,  no- 
112;  warp  and  woof  quality,  143,  144; 
weaver  at  work,  103-119,  145 

Blatchley,  Prof.  W.  S.,  on  color  symbolism, 
60,  61 

Books  and  periodicals  referred  to,  American 
Anthropologist,  112;  Anthropology  (Tay- 
lor), 132;  Antiquities  of  Mexico  (Kings- 
borough),  132;  Commerce  of  the  Prairies 
(Gregg),  20;  Doniphan's  Expedition 
(Hughes),  21 ;  Ethnologic  Dictionary,  An 
(Franciscan  Fathers),  2,  7,  10,  181,  183; 
Indian  Basketry  (James),  VI;  Indians  of 
the  Painted  Desert  Region  (James),  166; 
Land  of  Sunshine,  The  (Lummis),  25,  26; 
Memorial  to  the  King  of  Spain  (Bena- 
vides),  182;  My  Friend  the  Indian  (Mc- 
Laughlin),  175;  Navaho  and  His  Blanket 
(Hollister),  161 ;  Navaho  Legends  (Mat- 
thews), 183;  Night  Chant,  The  (Mat- 
thews), 61,  63,  76,  140,  183,  185;  Old 
Franciscan  Missions  of  New  Mexico,  Ari- 
zona, and  Texas  (James),  14;  Personal 
Narrative  of  Explorations  and  Incidents  in 
Texas  and  New  Mexico  (Bartlett),  22; 
Prehistoric  Cliff  Dwellings  of  the  American 
Southwest,  The  (James),  199;  Report  on 
the  Navaho  Country  (Simpson),  21 ;  Satur- 
day Evening  Post,  159;  Scribner's  Maga- 
zine, 199;  Seventeenth  Report  of  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  2,  6,  18;  Smith- 
sonian Report,  22,  184;  Some  Strange  Cor- 
ners of  Our  Country  (Lummis),  23;  Third 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
12,  103,  113;  Eighth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  13 ;  Twenty-third 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy, 164;  Thirty-one  Years  on  the  P'lains 
and  in  the  Mountains  (Drannan),  23;  Two 
Thousand  Miles  on  Horseback  (Meline), 
177;  Woodland  Idyls  (Blatchley),  61 

"  Brazil  sticks,"  29 

Burns,  L.  L.,  and  Burns  Indian  Trading 
Company,  employ  Chimayo  weavers,  173 ; 
reliable  blanket  dealers,  207,  208;  and 
Western  Costume  Company,  208 

Carleton,  Gen.  J.  H.,  and  Navaho  campaign, 

177,  178 

Carson,  Kit,  subdues  Navahos,  177,  178,  181 

Chants  and  songs,  10,  76,  115,  185-191;  dedi- 
cation of  hogan,  3-5,  10;  song  of  blessing 
of  the  blanket,  45 

"Chief's"  blankets,  32,  36 

Chimayo  blanket,  the,  116,  167-173;  Chimayo 
settlements,  167-169 

Classification  of  blankets,  143-158 

Cleaning  the  Navaho  blanket,  174 


211 


212 


INDEX 


Cliff  dwellings,  12,  80,  198,  199 

Color,    significance    and    symbolism    of,    in 

Navaho  blankets,  60-64;  importance  of,  144 
Commercialization  of  Navaho  weaving  art,  47 
Cotton,  C.  N.,  Indian  trader,  47,  48,  203; 

Company,  reliable  blanket  dealers,  203,  204 
Cotton,  early  fabrics,  12;  warp,  effect  of 

introduction    on    blanket- weaving,    48,    49; 

debarred,  52 
Common  blankets,  147-149 

Davis,  Cassidy,  painting  of  blanket,  108 

Dene,  ethnological  name  of  the  Navahos,  16 

Designs  on  blankets,  72-102;  list  of  prin- 
cipal ones,  126-129;  on  modern  Navaho, 
120-129;  variety,  146 

Deterioration  of  the  art  of  Navaho  blanket- 
weaving,  46-50 

Dine  (see  Dene},  182,  183 

Doniphan,  Col.  A.  W.,  campaign  against  the 
Navahos,  21,  177 

Drannan,  W.  R,  describes  Navaho  blanket, 

Dubois,  A.  W.,  in  Navaho  religious  cere- 
mony, 189 

Dyes  and  dyeing,  28-32,  33,  39;  with  aniline 
or  native  dyes,  48,  55,  65-71 ;  Chimayo,  170 

Emory,   Major,  visits  New   Mexico,  21 ;   on 

Navaho  raids,  176 
"Extra"  quality  blankets,  I 53-155 

Fautz,  June,  with  the  C.  H.  Algert  Company, 
207 

Fewkes,  Dr.  J.  Walter,  reproductions  of  pot- 
tery designs  of  Sikyatki,  18,  80-102 

Franciscan  Fathers,  view  of  Navaho  blanket, 
VI;  enter  New  Mexico,  13;  expelled  by 
Pueblos,  14 

Gates,  P.  G.,  collection  of  blankets,  36 
Germantown  yarn,  effect  on  Navaho  blanket 

weaving  industry,  46,  47,  51 ;  blankets,  157, 

158 
Gregg,  Josiah,  quoted  on  the  Navahos  and 

their  blankets,  20 

Harvey,  Fred,  blanket  trade,  52,  56,  153; 
collection  of  blankets,  32,  33,  42,  54,  137, 
152;  old  Chimayos,  171;  reliable  dealer, 
202,  203;  his  weavers,  118,  121,  157,  164 

Hogan,  1-7,  45,  156,  191 ;  song  of  blessing  or 
dedication,  3-6 

Hodge,  Dr.  F.  W.,  and  reproduction  of  pot- 
tery designs,  80-102 

Hollister,  Gen.  U.  S.,  on  mother-in-law 
taboo,  116;  on  imitation  blankets,  161-163; 
on  Navaho  religion,  184 

Holmes,  W.  H.,  quoted  on  fabrics  and 
pottery,  12 

Hopi,  basketry,  19;  land  occupied  by  Nava- 
hos, 175;  pottery  decorations,  18,  80-102; 
religious  beliefs,  45 ;  and  the  Spaniards,  13 ; 
squaw  dresses,  42,  43,  164;  Tewas  assist, 
43 ;  weavers,  165 

Hubbell,  John  Lorenzo,  collection  of  blan- 
kets, 40,  108,  125;  Indian  trader,  47,  48; 
reliable  blanket  dealer,  203,  204;  his  weav- 
ers, 117,  121,  125,  204,  208 


Hubbell  and  Cotton,  blanket  trade,   47,  52, 

1 60,  205 
Hughes,   J.    T.,    his   Doniphan's   Expedition 

quoted,  21 

Hyatt,  B.  F.,  post  trader,  48 
Hyde,  B.  T.  Babbitt,  49 
Hyde  Exploring  Expedition,  49,  50,  58,  207 

Imitation  Navaho  blankets,  159-163 
Improving  the  art  of  blanket-weaving,  51-59 

James,  George  Wharton,  collection  of  blan- 
kets, 32,  34,  37,  38,  41,  42,  124,  125,  137, 
138,  150,  156,  165,  170,  171 

Kachinas,  19;  baskets,  139;  blankets,  139-142 
Kearny,  Colonel,  and  New  Mexico,  176 

Land  of  the  Navaho,  196-201 

Letherman,  Dr.,  on  the  bayeta,  26;  Navaho 
blanket,  22;  Navaho  religion,  184,  185;  re- 
garding sheep,  56 

Lockwood,  Col.  J.  S.,  and  wool  and  blanket 
improvement,  66 

Loom  described,  103-108,  no,  114;  for  belts, 
130-132,  135;  early  Pueblo  and  Navaho,  16 

Lummis,  Charles  F.,  rarity  and  value  of 
Navaho  blankets,  23,  24;  the  bayeta,  25, 
26;  Indian  stories,  176 

MacGinnies,    William,    blanket    design,    141, 

142,  and  collection,  141,  142 
McLaughlin,  Inspector  James,  and  the  Utes, 

175 

Manning  Company,  The,  blanket  designs,  154 ; 
reliable  dealers,  205 

Matthews,  Dr.  Washington,  collection  of 
blankets,  36,  149,  156,  158;  describes 
Navaho  loom,  103-107;  diagonal  weaving, 
III;  belt-weaving  methods,  130-132;  blan- 
ket border,  151;  Navaho  religion,  184-190; 
native  dyes  and  dyeing,  67,  68;  his  The 
Night  Chant,  76;  sand-  or  dry-painting, 
75-78,  139,  141 ;  two-ply  or  two-faced  weav- 
ing, 112-114;  sex  symbolisms,  61,  62;  varie- 
gated patterns,  no,  in;  word  Navaho,  183 

Meline,  J.  H.,  quoted,  177,  178 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  N.  Y.,  collec- 
tion of  blankets,  35 

Mindeleff,  Cosmos,  account  of  hogan  dedica- 
tion ceremonies,  2-6 

Molohon,  J.  A.,  blanket  trader,  54,  121,  153, 
208;  reliable  dealer,  205,  206 

Moore,  J.  B.,  blanket  trader,  53,  121,  205; 
and  improvement  of  the  art,  206 

Mordants,  28,  67-71 

Mother-in-law  taboo,  116 

Names  of  blankets,  116-119 

Native  wool  blankets,  undyed,  151-153;  fancy, 
155-157 

Navaho,  ancestry,  15,  16,  20,  65;  business 
ability,  54;  chants,  76;  country,  103;  cost 
to  government,  179;  character,  175;  hogan 
homes,  1-7,  45,  103;  inventive  genius,  146, 
147;  legends  of  art  of  weaving,  10;  land 
of,  196-201;  loom  an  original  invention, 
114;  mother-in-law  taboo,  116;  numbers, 


INDEX 


213 


26,  181,  182;  pinion  nut  crop,  197,  198;  re- 
ligion and  religious  life,  45,  63,  74,  139,  140, 
184-195;  sheep-raising  and  care,  10,  n,  13, 
15,  56,  57,.io8,  109,  200,  201;  spelling  and 
pronunciation  of  name,  VIII,  182,  183; 
subjugation  of,  176-179;  weaver  at  work, 
16-19,  103-119;  woman's  position,  115,  116. 
See  Blankets,  Blanket-weaving,  and  Squaw 
dresses 

New  Mexico,  home  of  the  Navahos,  20; 
conquest  of,  21;  Spanish  invasion,  13; 
raids  by  Navahos,  176,  177 

Noel,  Hamilton,  and  lightning-design  blanket, 
122 

Outline  blanket,  136-139 
Output  of  blankets,  VIII,  58 

Peabody,  Mrs.,  and  outline  blanket,  136 
Pendleton  Woolen  Mills,  on  machine-weaving 

limitations,  162,  163 
Pepper,  Dr.  G.  H.,  on  native  dyes  and  dyeing, 

69-71 ;  scarcity  of  water  and  supply,  57,  58 
Pinion  nut,  Navaho  crop,  197,  198 
Pottery,  Hopi,  Navaho,  18;   Pueblo  designs, 

80-102 
Pueblo  Indians,  early  dress,  12,  13;  and  the 

Spaniards,    13,    14;    squaw   dresses,   39-44; 

weavers,  15-18,  112,  164-166 

Reliable  dealers  in  Navaho  blankets,  202-208 

Religious  life  of  the  Navahos,  45,  61,  63,  74, 

78,  79,  184-195;  sacred  mountains,  196,  197 

Sand-paintings,  62,  74,  75-78 

Scrapes,  20,  26,  113,  171 

Shaman,  medicine  man,  10,  41,  62,  74,  76,  77, 
139;  of  the  Pueblos,  13 

Sheep  and  shepherds,  10,  n,  13,  15;  herding, 
200,  201 ;  improving  the  breeds,  57 ;  num- 
bers and  care,  56,  57;  washing  and  shear- 
ing, 108,  109 

Shelton,  Supt.  W.  T.,  and  Indian  education, 
180,  181;  Indian  blanket  fairs,  59;  water 
supply,  58 

Sherman,  General,  and  Navaho  treaty,  179 

Shufeldt,  Dr.  R.  W.,  describes  belt-weaver's 
work,  133,  135 

Sikyatki  pottery  designs,  80-102 


Simpson,  Lieut.  J.  H.,  Report  on  the  Navaho 

country,  21,  22 

Simpson,  Richard  T.  R,  Indian  trader,  140 
Song  of  Blessing  of  the  Blanket,  45 
Songs  of  the  Navahos.    See  Chants 
Spaniards  enter  New  Mexico,   13;  expelled, 

14 

Squaw  dresses,  33,  39-44,  118 
Standard  blankets,  149-151 
Stephen,  A.  M.,  story  of  Tewas  and  Hopis, 

43;  describes  belt-weaving,  132,  133 
Stevenson,   Colonel,   and    The   Night   Chant, 

141 
Stevenson,    Mrs.    Matilda    Coxe,    on    Zuni 

weaving,  41,  164 
Symbolism,  in  color,  60-64;  designs,  72-102 

Tappan,  Colonel,  and  Navaho  treaty,  179 
Tewas  and  Hopis,  43 

Tinnehs  of  Alaska  related  to  Navahos,  65 
Twitchell,  Colonel,  and  Navaho  treaty,  179 
Two-faced  blanket,  113-115 

Vroman,  A.  C,  collection  of  blankets,  32,  33, 
35,  137 

Water  scarcity  and  supply,  II,  18,  57,  198; 
government  wells,  58 

Weaver,  Navaho,  at  work,  103-119 

Weaving,  belts,  garters,  and  hair-bands,  130- 
135;  deterioration  of  the  art,  46-50;  effect 
of  nature  on  designs,  19;  first,  8,  10,  12,  15, 
16;  improving  the  art,  51-59;  designs  in, 
72-102;  in  modern  Navaho  blankets,  120- 
129;  principal  designs,  126-129;  variety  in, 
146;  see  Blanket-weaving 

Western  Costume  Company,  208 

Wetherill,  Mrs.  John,  and  sand-paintings,  74, 
142 

Woman,  Navaho,  position  of,  115,  116;  the 
weaver,  115 

Wool,  scouring,  66;  dyeing,  66;  washing, 
carding,  and  spinning,  109,  no;  output, 
57,  58 

Yei,  76,  77;  blankets,  139-142 
Yeitso,  Navaho  legend,  191- 195 

Zuni,  "Nation  of  the  Willows,"  18;  religious 
beliefs,  45 ;  weaving,  41,  164,  165 


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